The forest flourished with life. Abundant flowers scattered throughout as the pug slowly ascended the incline. The place was still beautiful after so long. The sights gave him a small, warm feeling in his heart. Some things still remained the same despite everything that had happened over the course of time.

A few trees became sparse and gave an opening to the view ahead. Uni gave a sigh, reflecting back on some very old memories. Some things still remained indeed. He could see the stone structure hanging on the cliff, and he could just made out a figure sitting on the edge, their legs dangling. Just as I thought... He took a deep breath and then proceeded to move forward. The terrain became much steeper, but onwards he trudged.

Finally he reached to the top of the cliff. Ahead of him the stone structure jutted out the cliff. A small tower on top still stood strong in the center while the wooden chest inside it showed signs of deteriorating. Although the sign that hung was worn out and the words faded, Uni could still remember what it read.

Are you
worthy?

A rhetorical question of course; however, the initial thought gave him a gut-wrenching feeling. With everything that happened, Uni felt he could not answer that question. Nor did he want to. He forced himself to focus the other thing that sat ahead. With his back to him, Duni sat at the edge. He appeared to be looking off into the distance, lost in thought. Uni walked to the side of the small tower and rested his paw against it.

"I thought I would find you here." Uni said in a light, teasing manner; although, he sounded a bit reserved. Almost as if hesitant to speak.

"How did you know to find me here?" Duni asked, not turning to the other pug.

"I don't know really. I just had... a feeling..." Uni drifted off, now sounding unsure. He questioned it himself as well. How did he know? Uni could not exactly explain how. He just... knew.

"Well? What do you want?" Duni's question broke his train of thought.

"What I want?" Uni echoed, confused. "I wanted to check if you were alright. None of us had seen you for hours and you looked pretty upset when my siblings came." Duni gave a dry, lifeless laugh.

"I'm surprised you even wanted to see me at all." Uni raised an eyebrow.

"What? Why would-" But he was cut off as the dark-furred pug suddenly swung his legs over and turned, standing up to face the lighter-furred pug. His paws were clenched and his red eyes blazed in anger.

"I knew you were planning to escape!" Uni's eyes widened in surprise, but the shock flared into anger. Now it was his turn to be the one upset.

"You did look through my journal! That was something personal you know." Uni retalited, pointing an accusing finger at Duni.

"Well of course it was, seeing you were planning to escape! That daft brother of yours mentioned a letter you sent to them so I had to go look." Duni crossed his arms and scowled. Uni ignored the insult about his brother.

"That was a long time ago!" Uni fired back. "If you even payed attention, that was towards the beginning when I was an emotional mess after you bloody killed all my friends. Of course I wanted to get out! It was torture!"

"Then why didn't you just leave then?" Duni retorted.

"You know well enough you wouldn't've let me." Uni growled. This kept Duni quiet for a moment, confirming Uni's statement. He was right of course. There was no way he would have let Uni go after finally achieving what he wanted- mostly. Duni's gaze was no longer on Uni. Instead he was staring at the ground.

"I thought you were happy here." Duni said quietly. Uni's gaze narrowed.

"Clearly you don't know anything." He replied flatly.

"It seems I don't and I don't get it!" Duni lashed back as he smashed a fist against the stone. "I won, but it doesn't seem like I did! No matter what I do, nobody seems to be satisfied. Not even myself! I try to seek out help but everyone just turns me away like I'm some lunatic." He had a paw to his head now and a slightly insane look to his eyes as he rambled on.

"Everything I do seems wrong. Even when I do things right it just turns on me eventually. I'm okay one moment and not the next. I've been going on and off for a very long time now and I don't feel like I used to. Something just isn't right. I-I-... Is there something wrong with me?" Duni looked up at Uni, desperation pooling in his eyes. Uni felt a plummet of various thoughts and feelings. He was just as lost and as confused as him.

"I don't know. I haven't felt right in a long time either. These things happening to us, it's not normal." Uni walked over and placed his paws against the ledge. He took a deep breath to calm himself and stared off into the distance at the scenery. Although he was able to calm down, he couldn't shake the feeling of concern and dread. He turned his head to the darker-furred pug, who looked equally as worried.

"There's something terribly wrong going on."

"Really now?" Duni replied sarcastically; although, there was a hint of teasing in his voice. Uni caught this and huffed.

"Oh be quiet, you know something's up too. We're not acting the way we used to. In fact, I've noticed the others acting oddly strange at times. Though... it seems like we got the worst end of the bargain." The lighter-furred pug laughed darkly. It went quiet for a bit until Duni gave a quiet chuckle.

"Heh..." Uni turned to the darker-furred pug.

"What?" He asked.

"I just find it funny," Duni replied softly. He walked over beside Uni and rested his arms on the ledge, looking off into the distance. "This is the first conversation we've had together in a very long time. Not exactly what I was imagining, but it's something." Uni glanced to the side and smiled wryly.

"I'm not sure what to think of you. I hate you most of the time, but other times... you're not half-bad." Uni commented. Duni snorted.

"Isn't that the point of what you were just saying? That something isn't right?" He inquired. Uni sighed and waved a paw airily.

"Yeah yeah," He replied passively. "At least we both agree on something." The light-furred paw stood up and tipped his head towards the downhill.

"Why don't we head back?" He suggested. "We're going to be repeating ourselves at this rate." Uni began to walk slowly, patiently waiting for Duni. The dark-furred pug was silent for a moment, looking down at the ground. He then slowly raised his gaze.

"Alright." Duni finally replied. He stood up and the two made their way home.

- - - - -

Back at the house, the two pugs were idly chatting in the hallway. Their conversation was quiet and peaceful- for once- undisturbed until the appearance of the fiery-haired jester. He rounded the corner appearing to be in a rush. At the sight of the jester, Duni and Uni paused and looked towards his direction. At the sight of the two pugs, Don stopped and gave a sigh of relief.

"Oh thank god. I thought I'd be looking forever." Don muttered under his breath. He coughed, clearing his throat, then looked between the two pugs. Suddenly, the jester seemed awkward as he turned specifically to the darker-furred pug.

"Duni? Can I have a, umm... word with you?" He asked, sounding a bit nervous. Duni raised an eyebrow and Uni gave a skeptical look.

"Oh? Alright then friend." Duni replied, walking over to the jester.

"I'll catch you later Uni?" He said, his statement sounding more like a question, as he looked back at him expectantly. On the contrary, the lighter-furred pug was already beginning to walk off. At the sound of his name, Uni paused and glanced back at Duni. Instead of replying, he merely just stared at him. He then turned and walked away. Duni bit his lip, suppressing his disappointment. The darker-furred pug then turned his attention back to the jester.

"Alright, what did you want to talk about?" He asked. Don glanced both directions in a secretive manner, seeming slightly more on edge.

"Here might not be the best place.... Erm, follow me." The jester beckond Duni and swiftly walked off. The pug blinked, confused for a brief moment. He then hurried off to catch up to Don.