Tressa yawned and stretched, gazing out the doorway of the village's newest tent. Just another way too warm, way too cloudy day... The group had only been in Not-Earth for a few weeks, most of which was rainy and cloudy and hot. Tressa wasn't a huge fan of that.

"Good suntime, sleepy," a familiar voice pulled Tressa from xyr thoughts.

"Ayrie! – oh, did I sleep in?"

"Just a bit," Ayrie replied with a smile. "I'm heading out to see Nestor and check the mail, wanna come?"

"Oh! Er, I kind of promised I'd help in the gardens today." Xe wasn't sure why, but xe felt oddly embarrassed. Perhaps it was the idea of xyr friend seeing xem covered in mud.

"I'll walk you to the gardens then, after we get breakfast," Ayrie offered.

Tressa reluctantly followed her out of the tent. The air felt hot and sticky against xyr fur, and the remnants of last night's rain dotted the forest floor. Wonderful day for working in a garden, Tressa thought to xemself with a bit of annoyance.

Breakfast, as it turned out, was last night's leftover stew – not that it mattered. It was one of Tressa's newer recipes. Besides, it was always good to have leftovers.

"So, a day with Morocco and Flax, huh?"

"Yeah," Tressa replied, deep in thought. "I haven't seen much of them around here."

"They've been doing a lot with the gardens. It's been a few days, but they had made quite a bit of progress when I last visited." Tressa let out a small, nervous sigh, and Ayrie brushed her tail against xem. "I'm sure it'll be fun. They've probably got most of the work done by now anyway."

"Yeah, hopefully." Tressa licked up the last of xyr stew, then stood up. "Come on, you better not be late getting to Nestor."

Tressa carefully tucked the rest of the leftovers into the tunnels. It was amazing, xe thought to xemself, how just a week ago they had been living in these tunnels together. Xe couldn't get distracted now though; there was a long day of gardening waiting. Tressa turned to make sure Ayrie was coming, then began to lead the way; xe stopped just outside of the not-cats' small shelter. An unfamiliar calico sat outside the structure, dipping his paws in berry juice and drawing along the walls.

"Uh... Hello?"

The calico looked up at the sound of Tressa's voice. "Oh! Hi, I don't think we've met. I'm Flax."

"I'm... Tressa," xe replied awkwardly.

"Oh, you're the Tressa that's working in the gardens today!"

"Yep, xe's the one! I'm sure you two will get along wonderfully," Ayrie said with a smile. "I'd better get going now – nice seeing you Flax! Have fun, both of you."

"Thanks," Tressa said, a bit sad to see Ayrie go. Xe watched as the dark not-cat disappeared into the woods, then turned back to Flax. "So, uh. What exactly are you doing?"

"Decorating," he replied simply. "We have an excess of berries in the gardens. Might as well use them for something, right?"

"Yeah, sure..." Tressa wasn't sure she quite liked this new not-cat. I could have used those for cooking, xe thought angrily. Did he even ask permission to do this?

Xe sat down, keeping xyr mouth shut. Perhaps it would be better that way. Xe didn't want to disappoint Ayrie after all, and who knows? Perhaps xyr opinion of this not-cat would change in the future as xe got to know him better.

An awkward silence settled between the two as Tressa watched Flax work. It really was a nice painting, assuming one took the time to look. It would probably leave a nasty stain on the wall though. Tressa's tail flicked back and forth once, twice, three times... seriously, how much paint was Flax going to add to this?

Finally xe couldn't stand it any longer, and got up. "I'd better start heading to the gardens. Which way is it?"

"Down that path, and to the left," Flax pointed with a berry-stained paw. "I'll be there in a bit, I still have a bit more decorating to do."

"Of course," Tressa replied, slowly drifting away. Xe was glad to have an excuse to go, even if it had taken an embarrassing amount of time to remember that excuse.

The walk to the gardens was shorter than xe expected. The amount of mud didn't disappoint, however. If the path to the gardens was this wet... Tressa shuddered, not wanting to think about the amount of mud in the gardens.

The gardens were empty when xe arrived, but a small pile of seeds next to the fence hinted at the work to come. Tressa casted a quick glance at the small, feather-filled hut – of course it was empty, but that didn't matter. Less not-cats meant less distraction; surely the work would go faster and Tressa could return to the main village sooner.



It was barely noon – or at least, that's what Tressa assumed, seeing as clouds continued to obscure the sky – when a rustling in the nearby leaves caught xyr attention. Don't get distracted... You're almost halfway done, don't get distracted.... Tressa frowned, glancing in the direction of the sound. Perhaps a quick look would be fine.

One pawstep, then another, and another... This better be good, Tressa thought. It stopped suddenly, the whisper of trees being the only sound to break the silence. Maybe it was nothing. Tressa shook xyr head and turned toward the garden, and there it was again. Much closer this time, and then closer...

"AHA!" Tressa yelled, whipping around. A startled not-cat yelped at xyr. Tressa stared at the not-cat, confused. "Morocco?"

"Tressa, hey," they answered nervously. "Er, um, the gardening's going well, I assume?"

"Yeah, it is." A pause, then Tressa gave them a quizzical look. "What were you doing?"

Morocco hesitated, then shrugged. Tressa noted that they looked a bit nervous.

"Well, I'd better get back to gardening." Tressa turned, calling back over xyr shoulder to Morocco, "Have fun, I guess?"

Morocco didn't answer, already having gone back to bouncing and tumbling among the trees as if they were fighting an invisible foe. Tressa sighed. It was a miracle the garden had gotten as far as it did, considering the not-cats who had been left in charge of it.

"Tressa!" Sparrow appeared suddenly between the plants in the garden, a panicked expression on her face.

Wow, I'm really the popular not-cat today... "What's up, Sparrow?"

"Well, I was looking for Ayrie, i thought she might be here, but then she wasn't so I decided to wait for her. And I started thinking, and... If not-cats aren't cats, but they look like cats, but they're not, but they're from an alien planet, and how did they get to earth, and where are they now even, and what is Nestor, and why did we ever leave Not-Earth and head to Earth anyway, and..... who AM I???????"

"Woah, uh, I mean, it's okay! I'm sure you'll figure this out. Maybe just... don't think about it too much?" Tressa flicked xyr tail nervously. That had to be terrible advice. But how else was one supposed to solve an existential crisis?

Sparrow began to pace back and forth, her tail fluffed beyond recognition. Surely there must be something Tressa could do...

"You said you were looking for Ayrie, right? Let's go find her."

"Really?"

"Of course! She's the best friend anyone could ask for, I'm sure she'll know what to do."

"Alright, yeah. Good idea, you're right," Sparrow followed Tressa out of the gardens. "Ayrie will know what to do. If I'm not me, then... Ayrie isn't me either. What if Ayrie isn't Ayrie? Tressa! What if you aren't you? What if..."



The walk back seemed longer than the trip to the gardens, if that was even possible. It didn't help that Sparrow babbled on about existence the entire time, or that Ayrie was a difficult not-cat to find. Of course, it was worth it when they finally found Ayrie; she always seemed to know what to say, especially when it came to Sparrow.

Tressa fluffed up the pile of pelts on the floor, curling up on it. Xe didn't need to make dinner tonight as there were still leftovers, and it had been a long day. Tressa's eyes began to flutter as Ayrie's soothing voice drifted on the breeze.

"Not-cats are travelers, adventurers. Since the creation of the First Winds, not-cats have wandered the universe. Not-Earth isn't an alien planet – it's our home. Earth is just a part of our journey, a page in our story." Ayrie paused, gazing deep into Sparrow's eyes. "Does that make sense?"

"Yeah, I guess it does. Thanks, Ayrie."

Ayrie nuzzled Sparrow's head, a soft smile on her face. "Just remember, this is where we're supposed to be. And we're in this together, and that's all that matters."

Yes, Tressa thought happily to xemself as the world faded into a dream of fantastical, many-eyed creatures. That's all that matters.