All of Petey's happiness vanished in an instant, to be replaced by an all-encompassing feeling of terror.

The instant he stopped feeling happy, the golden glow around him vanished, and he discovered that he could barely breathe this high up. His fur began to flutter upward as whatever had been holding him in the air vanished, and he began to plummet downward. The sky didn't seem very friendly anymore, wind whipping at his face, but all he did now was keep his eyes, tears streaming out of them, focused on the black speck spinning through the air under him.

He started flipping around uncontrollably, his paws flailing at the air, and he howled as loudly as he could, "LEULAAAA!!!! WAKE UP PLEASE!!!!"

Far beneath him, the speck that marked his friend stubbornly refused to move, and Petey's heart dropped into his stomach and further beyond. This was all his fault! He knew that she didn't want to be in the sky because she told him she didn't want to and he didn't listen and now she was about to die!!!

A thought, a strangely calm one, made its way into Petey's mind.

Leula was Not Going TO DIE.

A blue board appeared in front of him, moving at the same speed he was, and he squinted at it in shock. He could read this one.

Do you wish to activate ?

Petey didn't know what that meant.

He didn't know what anything meant anymore.

He wasn't home.

He didn't have a home here.

He didn't have an owner here.

He didn't know what to do.

Petey tumbled through the air for a moment, eyes shut tight. What was he supposed to do? What did this blue board mean? It was normally far larger, and had numbers that he didn't understand.

Did he trust it to help him?

He immediately realized that it didn't matter if he trusted it or not. Trust was a moot point when his friend was falling to her death.

He barked without hesitation, "Yes! I want to help Leula!"

activated. All present mana expended. Cooldown: One month.

Petey's mind went blank.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

When he opened his eyes again, he was standing on top of the water in front of the hut, safely back on the ground. After a brief moment of panic where he looked in every direction, he felt the faint grip of eight fuzzy legs on his head.

He splashed into the water, flopping under its surface in exhausted relief. And he was exhausted, he was surprised to find. He hadn't felt tired even once since arriving.

A splash of water landed on him, and Leula jumped to her feet with a startled screech. No water! She scrambled around on his head for a moment, trying to find a high point, and then froze. Wait... was I in the sky?

Petey held his head up to a branch poking out of the water, and she tentatively walked onto it, turning around. Petey? What's wr-

She was interrupted as he gave her a hefty lick, and then another one, and another one. He wasn't going to stop licking her until he was absolutely certain that she was fine. She complained and argued and maybe even whined a little bit, but he wasn't backing down on this one. After a solid three minutes of licking, he sat on his butt, panting. He was shaking from the leftover terror he'd just experienced.

Leula seemed to notice. Shaking her legs free of slobber and drool, she wiggled until all of it was off of her fuzz and put her leg on Petey's sniffer. Petey? What's wrong?

Petey started taking big sniffs, water building up in the corners of his eyes. In mere moments, he was having his first ever whining fit, trembling uncontrollably as he rested his head on Leula's branch. She almost seemed panicked as she skittered onto his head, panicked questions flooding from her mind into his. Petey! What is it? What's going on?

In between heart-breaking whines, he told her miserably, "I went up really high, and, and, you fell off. So I started falling and you were falling and I'm really sorry and please don't leave. I know-" He paused for a moment, fearing the words he was about to woof, but then finished wretchedly, "I know I'm a Bad Dog."

His tail tucked between his legs as he said it, and Leula nearly jumped off of his head in shock. WHAT!? No! Petey, you are not a bad dog! Even your class says so!

Whimpering, he lifted his soulful eyes to look at her, watching as she perched on his nose. Petey, you are a good boy. You're the- She hesitated, then said confidently, You're the goodest boy in the whole world, Petey. Whatever happened, it wasn't your fault.

Sucking in a deep breath, Petey howled, "But it waaas! I went way too high and you said you didn't like it and I didn't listen!"

Leula shrank back with a pained hiss, but forged onward. Then you made a mistake!

He buried his head in the water, whimpering, "I know! That's why I'm a Bad Dog!"

To his shock, Leula whapped him on the nose. It didn't even approach hurting, but it startled him enough that he stopped the incessant whine in the back of his throat. Setting her butt firmly in the water, she gripped his head and said firmly, You are NOT A BAD DOG.

They simply sat there for a moment, Petey gazing up at the spooder and her staring back at him. Finally, she said, I don't know you very well, Petey. I haven't known you for very long. But I've seen enough from you that there's no way you could ever be called a bad dog. You are kind to everything, even carnivorous plants. Whoever taught you that a mistake makes you a bad dog was wrong.

He whimpered pitifully, "But..."

She shook her small black head firmly. No. It doesn't matter who told you that. One mistake is just that, a single mistake. I make mistakes all the time!

Sniffing loudly, he asked tentatively, "Really?"

Leula nodded rapidly. Of course! One time I accidentally gave the Matriarch a piece of meat with worms in it, and she was sick for a month!

His tail slowly began to wag again. "Really?"

She winced. Y-yeah. I felt terrible about it, but she forgave me because I didn't mean to do it. Do you get it?

Petey nodded slowly, still unable to fully reconcile her words with the instructions of his past owners. "Um. Kind of?"

Leula sighed. Did you mean to hurt me?

Petey's eyes widened. "No! Never!"

She threw her front legs wide. Then it was an accident! I forgive you!

It was hard with her sitting on his nose, but he managed to lick her with some difficulty. The golden glow slowly began to return to his fur, and she smiled with her tiny little mandibles. Let's go meet those anuran, okay? Don't worry about it. Don't even think about it anymore.

Petey stood up, taking a deep breath. "Okay."

Leula patted his nose. You are a good dog.

Petey nodded uncertainly. "I... I am a Good Boy."

And yet, as he made his way back to the giant dome, everyone staring at him with wide eyes, he doubted himself.