Like every other day of that week, Val walked with Foofy on the sidewalks in this area of the city, all around the animal shelter. On this last walk, though, Val trudged onward with stomps for steps.

When she had learned of that Chihuahua’s fate, Val had regretted the foul mood that she had been in on the last walk of Gigi’s life, unbeknownst to her at the time. The day after that, Val had pondered all of the possibilities. Could she have unhooked Gigi’s leash and let her run free? How many days would that have allowed Gigi to wander on the streets with what remained of her pitiful life before she would simply be caught and taken back to the pound? The odds of some random family taking her in seemed worse than her adoption from the animal shelter. What if Val had taken Gigi home to be her very own dog, disregarding what anyone would have to say about it back then? Even she could have tolerated Gigi’s annoying nature in order to save that little dog’s life. Regardless, the past was the past. It could not be changed.

These questions, Val posed to herself for the sake of another dog that she could actually make a difference for in the here and now. Despite this, now entirely aware of Foofy’s impending fate, Val did not do anything differently. Right down to her crummy attitude, Val repeated everything just the same as she had done with Gigi. Her steps plodded heavily against the concrete on her final walk with her favorite dog.

Having finished their walk, Val returned Foofy to his prison in the animal shelter. All the while, she hated herself for it. Most of all, Val despised herself as she turned her back on Foofy. Her long strides carried her from the animal shelter.

“Are you leaving so soon?” the shelter worker asked when she had one foot out the door already.

Val paused in the doorway to give him an explanation. Normally, she would walk more dogs than just Foofy. “I am just not really feeling up to volunteering at the moment. I’ll probably be back later today, though.” That ‘probably’ solidified into something more definite in her mind as Val imagined the precise manner in which she ought to return to the shelter later.

Outside, the sunlight greeted Val with too much exuberance for this dismal day. The pleasant weather had created an appropriate backdrop back when Val had thought that she would be adopting her new dog. So too, the sunny day had made for nice conditions for Foofy’s final walk. Now that Val slogged home on her own without him though, this perfect weather seemed out of place.

Already, she could not bear the weight of this regret beginning to hang over her shoulders. This time, Val would do something different for Foofy. With determination steeling in her mind, Val took up a steady jog home. As she ran beneath the blue sky and white, puffy clouds, perhaps the impeccable weather fit the nature of today perfectly, since today could not be filled with more possibilities and hope.

Val arrived at the apartment that was her home, but soon, this place would not be that no longer. As she entered the kitchen, she stood up straight and steadied her breath.

“Welcome home—” her mother began.

“I got a call from some friends,” Val snapped. “I am going to go study with them. I just stopped by to get my backpack.” With that, she darted towards her room.

“Since when did you have any friends at school?” her mother asked, an eyebrow raised. To think, an insult like that came from her own mother.

Val turned around and tossed out her arms in innocence. She kept walking backward to her bedroom the entire time. “What do you know? When I actually attend school, I can actually start making friends.” The door shut rather firmly once she made it inside of her room.

Indeed, she needed her backpack, but not for any mundane purpose like studying. Val unloaded the textbooks, notebooks, and folders from her bag. Everything related to school, save for a few pens and pencils, found a place tucked away beneath her desk. From there, Val began to fill her backpack with more useful items: spare clothes, a portable charger, a flashlight, a boxcutter, among so many other things.

A box in her closet contained all of these essentials that Val had been able to think up over the past year. Presently, she rutted through this box and loaded up her backpack with everything. She had even the foresight to keep a small supply of fresh protein bars and water bottles for a source of sustenance to bring along with her.

All of this, Val had prepared for the time that she would finally decide to make her way to the Summit of Ascension. That moment had come today, just a few minutes before when this plan had hatched in her brain. Val would begin her journey to find the Summit of Ascension at once. Now, if only they made an equivalent of meal bars for dogs, Val would be all set to go, since she would be bringing a furry friend along with her. She made a mental note to buy dog food at some point, along the way.

With her backpack stuffed suspiciously full, she would be on her way in a moment. First, though, before she could return to the animal shelter to save Foofy, Val would need to have a general idea of where she would be going with him. In order to map their route, Val required more information that only Past Insight could provide to her.

During her previous attempt to track down Ross’s whereabouts, Val had finally broken past that strange barrier. While that mystical barricade over his past still confused her, Val had gained the information that she had needed to discover where Ross had gone. Assuming that no other obstacles presented themselves, she could retrace his path to the Summit of Ascension in the present day. For the time being, Val only needed a starting point in order to begin on this journey.

Her mind felt clearer than ever, ready to try to track down Ross’s movements once more. Her backpack rested beside her against the bedpost. Val herself straightened her posture from where she sat cross-legged on the floor. Her eyes closed to prepare herself to dive into the stream of the past—a trivial task given that Val knew exactly where she had left off last time.

Within a quite literal blink of an eye, Val would have the information that she needed to then begin her travels with Foofy.