Socks had been searching the cavern for about twelve hours now. He hadn't found anyone and anxiety was beginning to settle in on him as thoughts about what might have happened to his friends invaded his mind. Luckily, it only took a couple minutes more before he spotted two people, one wearing a crab jumper, the other wearing an orange cloak with bear ears stuck to the top.

"Blaza! Tbh!" Socks called. Both of them turned to look in his direction, but neither moved.

"Come here!" Tbh's voice distantly echoed towards him. Socks quickly made his way over to them.

"Heyyyyy!" Tbh and Socks said in unison. Blaza simply stared for a moment, but then quietly added his own greetings as well.

"Hi, Socks."

Socks glanced at him, tilting his head slightly. "You okay?"

Posture turning tense and defensive, Blaza gave a slight glare. "Why do you guys keep asking me that?"

"Well, you seem kind of... Distant, if you know what I mean," Tbh said. Blaza just shook his head. Then Socks' eyes landed on the piece of paper Blaza was holding.

"What's that?" he asked. Blaza lit up slightly, a smug grin forming as he passed the paper to Socks. Out of the corner of his eye, Socks could see Tbh holding back a laugh. Now what mischief had these two gotten into?

"A map. We've been marking it, so now it tells us which pillars to follow to get back to Meme and Nadwe."

"Oh. I guess that makes sense," Socks said. Tbh's grin had become comically wide now, stretching from ear to ear. 'What's so funny?' Socks thought, giving him a look of suspicion. Then another question formed in his head, that of which he voiced out loud. "Where did you find paper down here?"

At that, Blaza and Tbh burst out laughing. "Flip it over. Flip it over!" Tbh said between laughs. Socks did, and immediately recognized the writing on what was actually the front of the paper. He started laughing too.

"Memegod's 'Medical Degree'? Really?" Socks taunted. Blaza nodded, a smile splayed on his face. Socks vaguely realized he hadn't seen that in a while. It took a few minutes for all of them to finally calm down and catch their breaths.

"Gods, I didn't think this through. He's gonna kill us!" Tbh said, giving another small chuckle. Blaza nodded lightly.

"Better stay here for a little while, then!" He looked toward Socks. "Guess we've got time to listen to your story. Where've you been?"

"Well, I was thrown into a wall and blacked out." Saying it somehow brought the dull ache back into Socks' mind, and he gave a little grimace. Tbh nodded, having looked over his shoulder to see L4FF taking Socks. "Then, when I woke up I was in a cave. And it wasn't this cave. It was like a bunch of tunnels connected to here. I didn't really explore much, though, because I was kind of being chased," Socks said, mind going back to when he was running through the unfamiliar grounds, the furry-saur chasing after him.

"If Laff wanted you dead, then why didn't he just kill you when you were unconscious?" Blaza asked. Socks shook his head.

"No, Dino was there. He was trying to kill me." Both of Socks' friend's eyes widened.

"I thought he died! We all thought he did!" Tbh said. Blaza nodded in agreement.

Socks shook his head. "Yeah, me, too. And here's the weird part," Socks said, pointing at Blaza to indicate his wording. "Laff was there— and it actually was Laff. Like, really Laff, with the mask and everything. No metal, no robo-stuff, not any of that. Just Laff."

Blaza stared at him, but after a couple of ticks passed, an understanding look started to creep into his eyes. His face held a sort of 'Yeah, that makes sense' kind of look, but Socks didn't question it.

Tbh did, though. "Do you have an idea, or something?" Blaza didn't answer, seemingly zoned out. Tbh shook his shoulder. "Hey? I asked a question."

Blaza blinked a couple times. "Oh— Uhm, sorry, what?"

"You look like you have an idea or something," Tbh repeated.

"Oh. Well, actually, if Laff was there, instead of..." Blaza shook his head. "If it was Laff, then that would make sense. He has to be able to switch between them." Blaza paused, a thoughtful look on his face as he tapped his chin. "Or he can't control it."

Socks nodded in agreement. "He undid the ropes Dino used to tie me to a stalagmite, but he also grabbed me. There was metal spreading up his arm. He wanted help, but I wasn't gonna stay for another episode of getting knocked out."

"Help with what?" Tbh asked.

Socks opened his mouth to respond, but then stopped as he realized the mistake. He thought for a moment, then gave the simplest answer. "I don't really know."

"If it's uncontrollable, then that fills in the gap. If he was helping you, only to be overtaken, then... He is the villain, not Laff," Blaza said.

"Blaza, they're the same person," Tbh quickly added, as if Blaza was slow and needed an explanation.

Blaza glared at him. "I know, Tbh. I'm saying it could be like dissociative identity disorder."

"No. That's not possible, because Laff shot Woolf and Muffin, not L4FF," Socks said.

Blaza turned his attention back towards him. "Other people with DID don't get covered in dirt or stone when they switch. It was just an example. Maybe he was on the verge of swapping."

"Blaza, stop defending him," Tbh poked in, tone light but irritated.

"I know what I'm talking about." Blaza still had a glare on his face, but it softened after a tick. "Actually, I need to tell you two something. But you can't tell everyone else, okay?"

Tbh and Socks looked at each other, taking a moment to process the sudden change of topic, but then turned back to Blaza nodding.

Blaza hesitated, but continued forward. "So, I've been having dreams lately. Like, weird dreams. And uhm... They're kind of like visions of the future... So, uhm..." He trailed off, looking to the ground. "That sounded a lot stupider when it came out of my mouth," he whispered, shoulders coming up to his ears.

"Well, we all dream Blaza. That doesn't mean it's a vision or something," Socks said in a supportive but disbelieving tone.

Blaza's eyes shot back up as he waved his hands around. "No, I know that. But these are visions. You gotta believe me!" He paused, clearly trying to think of a way to convince them. "Like, remember when you fell in the hole with the dragon Tbh? And then you got Woolf to help you kill it?" It took a couple ticks, but Blaza's eyes widened by a fraction and he grimaced at the name of their dead friend.

Tbh looked a bit confused. "I didn't tell you that... No, Woolf probably did though."

Blaza shook his head. "No. I saw it happen. Meme said you were gonna go do something with..." he gave a small sigh, "and I remembered seeing it two days before he said that."

Tbh held a skeptical look, which made Socks feel bad for Blaza. 'He does sound quite insane, though,' Socks thought. Although, could Socks really blame him? They'd been stuck underground for so long...

"Guys, you gotta believe me." Another pause. "It was green. The dragon, I mean. And it was a male. You said it was a female, so Woolf had been expecting an egg. He got the better loot because he was flying around the cave... Or was that you... No, Woolf had wings," Blaza whispered the last part to himself.

Tbh now looked a bit more surprised. "Are you sure they're visions?"

"Positive."

Tbh looked at Socks, then sighed. "We should probably head back now." Socks nodded in agreement. They'd probably talk more about this later.

|—o–O–o—|

They'd followed the map back, and were now looking around the area for Meme and Nadwe. And then Socks saw it.

"Hey guys! You might wanna see this!" he called. Tbh and Blaza came running. Socks turned, holding Nadwe's hat.

Tbh's eyes widened. "What happened?" Socks ignored him in favor of Blaza. His skin had suddenly paled and he didn't seem to be paying attention.

"Blaza, you good?" Socks said, concern written into his features. Blaza gave a small nod, but he looked almost ghostly now. "Are you sure—" Before Socks could get the words out, Blaza tipped sideways and his body fell, his eyes rolling to the back of his head. Tbh lunged forward to grab him before he hit the floor.

"Blaza?" Tbh whispered quietly. He gently set Blaza down on the floor, cradling his head slightly. Socks moved closer to feel for a pulse.

"I think he just fainted," Socks said.

Sock and Tbh met each other's eyes, concern and worry reflecting back at both of them.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

{CHAPTER NOTES}

Summary: Socks, Tbh, and Blaza all reunite with each other. They talk about Laff and L4FF, trying to come up with a plausible theory for what was happening to him. Blaza then tells the other two about his visions, both of them skeptical of him. The trio eventually make their way back to where Meme and Nadwe should've been, but only find Nadwe's hat. Blaza faints shortly after. (Word Count: 1503)

[NEW NOTE]: Weird fact indeed, Past-Me! That's really strange of you. Creepy even. Also, there are so many other words you guys can use to replace 'said'! Just look up some synonyms on Thesaurus.Com. That's what I do when words start to become repetitive. Or go to Merriam-Webster.Com! It's a great dictionary if you don't know quite how to use a word, and it has a thesaurus of its own!

(Old Note): Hello! Okay weird fact: I am extremely interested in medical disorders for some reason. Anyways, I don't have much to say about this chapter, but it was stupidly hard to find words other than 'said' for when someone talked. Chapter summary: Socks finds Tbh and Blaza, and they chat for a bit about what had happened. Blaza comes up with a theory that is almost the truth for what happened to Laff. He also explains about visions. Both Socks and Tbh are skeptical. When the trio heads back to where Meme and Nadwe should have been, they aren't there, and Socks finds Nadwe's top hat. Blaza faints. (Word Count: 1224)