P̵̨̤͙͂͆͛͐͑̑̾̕Ȧ̵̧̧͔͖̙͈͚̭̘̫̻̖̘͖̥̉͆͛͊̀̓̆͗̚͠R̵̳͈̲̱͚̫̩̪̯̫̰͉̊́͗͛̑͛̊͋̈̄̋̔̍̅͒͒̕A̵̞̦̝͕͙̪̬̣̠̼̔ͅĻ̸̤̥͔̪̱͍̭͕̦̣̟͓̹̱̲̫̜̲̞̊͐̑́̽͐͐̋̍Ļ̶̢̣͔̻͊͂̉̅͑̄̈́̅̒͒̒̃̏̀̕͝ͅĚ̸̛̖̻̙̮̭̰͎̰̼̬̀̑͛̓̋͛̂͊̌̏͊͋͆͝͝ͅL̵̨̮͍̞͔̣̻̝̾̀̽́̃͛͌͑̐̚̕ ̷̀̾̒̌́͑̑̋̋̿͊̀ͅP̶̨͓̝̥̩͚̈̊̾͘2̵̦̥͉̝̎̐̚͝͝͠
Jali was practicing in his living room, furniture moved out of the way to give him space, and Kyu curled up on the couch watching him. He let his thoughts clear, focusing just on the movements, letting them carry him, lost in his own world... until that awful noise and bright light sent him fumbling back to the couch and Kyu, who was letting out a loud whine as his paws tried to cover his far more sensitive ears.
Jali curled himself around the dog shifter as his eyes tried to adjust, tensing as he saw a strange figure come into focus.
When they did, Jali stiffened even more, because the person now standing in the middle of the room wasn’t strange... it was him.
Well, not quite. One blue eye, lighter hair, and something about the way the other carried themselves, not to mention Kyu’s low growl at them, set them apart.
For their part, the other began to look around desperately, calling out, “Athen? Athen, where-” before rapidly losing consciousness and crumpling to the floor.