Chapter Text
In a region outside of time and space, two gods were having a conversation with a wild animal.
"I just don't understand!" Saint yelled, kicking a rock. "No matter what I do, I can't leave. I'm stuck doing something impossible, giving relief that I won't ever feel myself. Sure, I can free them from the cycle, but then why can't I join them?"
"We went through the same thing, little one." Five Pebbles replied, patting him on the head. "The only difference is, you have the solution. We were all stuck in our cans, trying to find it. Who knows, maybe it was you all along."
"Yes, that's why they called us iterators. It was all we could do, trying to find a kind of freedom we would never experience. And now, we're... well, I don't even know what to call this place." Looks to the Moon added, looking out at the rest of Rubicon.
"I don't know, maybe purgatory?" Pebbles chuckled. "It would probably be accurate."
"I don't think anything can describe this place." Saint deadpanned. "It's just weird."
"Saint, as much as I hate to say it, you may just have to keep going." Moon spoke softly.
"I don't think I can." He muttered.
"You can. Like Pebbles said, you're the solution we were looking for this whole time." She replied forcefully, practically looking through him.
"It's like Suns said to me, we're just bugs in a maze."
Saint paused, thinking about what was just said.
"I'm the solution..." He trailed off.
The three were silent for a moment before Saint opened his eyes.
"Thank you." He said, focusing his power as he had done so many times before, aiming at himself, and before either of the iterators could stop him, he severed his ties to the cycle.
Everything went black.
Everything stopped.
The world died.
And then, as quickly as it was over...
A new cycle began.
Spearmaster wandered through the Farm Arrays, searching for anything to take back to Seven Red Suns. They had been out here for only a few cycles and were already fed up with the region.
'In the past week alone,' they hissed internally, 'I've had to escape the rains twice, fight off a very angry red lizard, bargain for passage with at least five groups of scavengers, and avoid countless fields of wormgrass, so I'll be damned if I come back home with nothing to show for it.'
Seeing dark clouds growing overhead, Spearmaster sighed, shoving themselves into the nearest shelter. 'Guess I'll have to keep looking next cycle.'
Curled up, they were almost asleep, when a quiet squeak made them slam their eyes open, looking around the room.
They stood up, trying to find what made that noise, until their eyes settled on a pair of shapes in the far corner. They made their way closer in an attempt to see what it was, and oh void below those are slugpups.
They quickly walked back to the other side of the shelter, reaching into a small bag that Suns had made for them before they left. 'For once, I'm glad he's overprotective.'
He was absurdly apologetic after they had returned from their first mission, mostly for not giving them a mouth. Thankfully, that problem was fixed almost instantly, although Suns refused to let them leave for a long time after that. 'It was a struggle just to escape his can at first...' they thought to themselves, managing to find a lantern.
Spearmaster walked back over to the pups, now seeing them clearly. One of the twins was a muted pink, with the other colored sky blue. The latter sat up, staring straight at Spearmaster.
"Uh... hi?" They said quietly.
The pup shuffled back with a small, wordless wawa, making herself as small as possible.
"I'm not gonna hurt you, it's okay." Spearmaster soothed her, quietly inching closer. As they did that, the pink pup opened his eyes, seeming to be less concerned about the stranger who had just shown up.
"Your parents aren't around here, are they?" They asked, to which both the pups shook their heads.
"Well, that's alright. I'll take care of you two, okay?"
They both nodded, and the three fell asleep next to each other.
The cycles seemed to pass by in a blur as the three of them made their way back to SRS's can. Thankfully, the two slups were ready to travel almost as soon as Spearmaster found them, and they had quickly grown to know the pair's... quirks.
First, there was Brook, who went from the shyest slugcat Spearmaster had ever met to a blue blur of pure chaos. She seemed to be an expert in getting the attention of everything within a 20-mile radius, and Spearmaster practically had to have eyes in the back of their head to keep track of her. She was a curious little thing, even if that tended to get her into trouble.
Compared to his sister, Atlas was peaceful, although that was admittedly a very low bar. He tended to wander off, but at least he wouldn't come back being chased by multiple predators. (A situation Brook tended to find herself in.)
Even still, he tended to be a bit of a pushover when it came to his sister's shenanigans, often acting as her partner in crime.
SRS had been repeatedly sending overseers to track the three, even more so now that he knew Spearmaster wasn't alone. At least one of his overseers was following them at all times, more interested in the twins than Spearmaster.
'Is Suns even doing anything else?' They thought.
Taking a moment to rest, Spearmaster sighed, taking in the sights around them.
"How much longer?" Brook whined.
"We'll be there soon, Brook."
"But I'm bored!"
"Then go play with your brother." Spearmaster laughed, ruffling the fur on her head.
"Alright!" Brook chirped, scampering off.
They laid their head on the grass, closing their eyes in exhaustion.
'These two are gonna be the death of me.'
When they woke up, they opened their eyes to see nothing but blackness. They felt something surrounding him and heard the muffled sounds of laughter.
"What the hell did you two do?" Spearmaster tried to ask, only to find themselves tasting a mouthful of dirt.
'Oh.' They thought, quickly realizing that they'd buried them while they slept.
They spat out the dirt they had swallowed, covering their face with a paw.
"Very funny, you two." They groaned. "You can let me out now."
The laughter was quickly stifled, with Atlas whispering, "Quiet, he'll hear us!"
Spearmaster decided to play along, yelping, "Let me outta here!"
"We aren't here!" Brook giggled.
"Well then, I guess we'll never get home."
The twins started to unbury them, and they sat up.
"How long did this take you two?"
"I dunno, but you've been asleep for a while." Atlas said as the three looked up to the slowly darkening sky.
"Well, let's head to the shelter." Spearmaster said, beckoning them to follow. "We can keep moving next cycle."
Suffice to say, Seven Red Suns had been excited when the trio returned. He couldn't stay still, constantly asking Spearmaster questions about the twins. 'Who are they? Are they siblings? What are they like? Can they understand you? What about me, can they understand me? WHY ARE THEY SO CUTE?'
The years had passed by peacefully, and Brook was starting to get cabin fever.
"Why can't we leave?" She had asked Spearmaster one day.
"You're still too young, I'm sorry!" They replied.
That was almost two years ago, and now the twins were having practically the same discussion with Suns.
"We aren't pups anymore, we can take care of ourselves!" Atlas groaned.
"I just don't want you to get hurt." Suns responded.
"Come on, we'll be fine!" Brook shot back.
"Besides, we've been training in your old city. If nothing else, we can handle ourselves in a fight!" Atlas added.
"What?"
"It's true," Spearmaster said, dropping into Sun's chamber. "I've been training them myself."
"Fine, but on one condition." Suns relented. "You go check on Moon and Pebbles."
"That's it?" Atlas asked. "Of course we can do that!"
"Alright..." Suns trailed off as the three slugcats left his chamber, making their way up to the old city.
"He really does worry about you, you know." Spearmaster said, the cool night air surrounding the trio,
"I know that, but can't he relax just a bit?" Atlas sighed.
"That's never really been his style. He can be a bit overbearing at times, sure, but he can't help it."
"I get it." Brook finally said.
"I don't think I ever told you why I was so against you leaving. It was about seven years ago now, and Suns had finally agreed to let me go on my first mission."
"That was the one with Five Pebbles, right?"
"Yeah, it was. So this is before I even found you."
"I was so excited, I just wanted to go as soon as I could, but he decided that I needed to train. So I threw myself into it, and I wasn't just good, I was great."
"Are you just gonna keep bragging?" Brook quipped.
"Brook, let me finish."
"Sorry!"
"Anyway... When I finally set out, there was just so much I got to see that I only ever dreamed about! Yet, at the same time, it was nothing like I trained for. I was basically a pup, having to learn everything all over again. And once I came back, I realized that I never gave myself the chance to relax. I had to grow up absurdly quick, and when I found you, I just... I didn't want you to have to go through that, too. That's why I kept you here for so long, I wanted you to have that life I didn't really have."
"I'm sorry..." Atlas trailed off.
"Don't be."
Brook ran up, hugging Spearmaster, with Atlas quickly joining in.
"Thanks, Dad."
"I love you too, guys." They purred, embracing their pups.