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The dark red slugcat is scared. If she would have been able to, she would stay in the safe room for as long as possible. Sadly, she needs food to survive, and the food won't find itself, especially in this junk-filled area, and she does have this self-imposed mission to complete… She has to move.
The beggining of her journey was way smoother than how it is going currently. At the time, green lizards were her scariest enemies. Now, she knows that they shouldn't even be deemed dangerous compared to what lies in the rest of this world… While finding their friend was her main issue at the time, now, all she can worry about is simple survival.
She probably should have stayed in the first region, away from the vultures and white lizards, but her wanting to reach them got the best of her… again. She strayed into the leach infested, flooded, mechanical area first. Even staying there was probably a better idea than to continue to where she currently was. Each region was worse than the previous one, it seems.
She hated the greenish water, she hated the constant presence of leaches, she hated the long black worms that were seemingly mocking her efforts. The impure waste is a hellish place and she wants to get out of it as quickly as possible. From the knowledge she got from her father, the next areas won't be much better, but at least they won't be as disgusting.
To try to escape, she passed through the garbage filled caves. Giant bulbous monsters with terrifyingly long tentacles were presents in these caves but, with enough patience she was able to get past them by hiding in holes and going around wherever they were at the moment. She nearly died multiple times, but was in the end, she able to go past them without wasting any cicle.
She wonders whether her pink comrade will be happy to see her when she finds them. From her point or vue, it seems like she only stayed with them to be able to find their father's corpse easier. For the dark red slugcat, that relationship meant way more than simple survival, but, surely, it wasn't the same for the pink one.
So, it was her objective to find back the pink slugcat. Because they surely wouldn't search for her, it is the only way for her to see them ever again. So, when the rain separated them both, she headed west, where she told her companion where her father was heading. Doing so caused her to go through truly terrible areas, but she believes that it is worth it.
With some chance, her dear friend would be still there when she arrives. She took a longer path to avoid meeting any vulture, while the more experienced slugcat probably did not, so, she would surely arrive second.
Her path wasn't really safer for a normal slugcat, but her night vision does make the last part of her planned trek less scary, and her slightly above average proeficiance in water did help with the first part.
This path was both scarier and longer, but dying and needing to stall to be able to go through the gates would surely be worse. It would make her waste more time, at least, that much she was sure of. So, this way is the best.
Still, the trek wasn't a simple one, and it might even all be for naught. The pink slugcat usually didn't linger for long after completing a bounty. She might simply miss the bounty hunter and never see them again. But, if she's able to rush all the way towards the summit of the world, towards where her father is headed, she might be able to see them again.
Thinking about the possibility of seeing her was able to make to dark red slugcat determined enough to get up and continue her journey. She was able to avoid dying until now and she will continue to do so, she has too much to lose from doing so, losing time, losing the race, losing her companion…
So, she would reach the heart of the iterator. And, if she failed to reach it in time, it would be that, she will simply go back home, lonely, but physically fine. Too physically fine. Make the cycles stop, please, anyone. This rationalisation was nothing but that, a rationalisation. She would have done it either way, she would have tried to reach her beloved.
The pink slugcat was exhausted. Her greediness had been her downfall. As she exited the safe room she used to avoid the rain, she contemplated her situation. Since the rain had swept away her companion, the dark red slugcat, she was lonely and lacked supplementary information on the target of the bounty she took. Good things truly didn't happen to bad people…
They already gave her most of the useful information before getting swept away by the rain; the location of the target, the possible paths that led there and the dangers present on the way. Still, continuing the mission without her felt wrong.
Usually, she wouldn't concern herself with such absurd social manners, but the dark red slugcat was different. For some reason, they couldn't bear to lose her. That was most definitely a problem, the life of a bounty hunter is supposed to be a solitary one, after all. Still, after some self reflexion, the pink slugcat is able to come to term with the fact that she wanted the dark red slugcat to stay close to her.
So, after reaching the peak of the chimneys, nearly reaching the wall, she backtracked. She was going to stay alone, but her heart changed. And now, here she is, in the garbage, trying to backtrack. She is searching any possible way the dark red slugcat could have taken. She knew her, there was no way that she reached the shore yet. So, by using this technique, she would probably find them one day.
If she was to never see them again, she doesn't know what she would do. She didn't need anyone, yet, she needed them. She needed their smile. She needed their endearing clumsiness. She needed their adorable voice. Yet, even while postponing a bounty to find her, they would never admit that fact.
But it didn't matter, she doesn't need to think about that if she was going to find her anyways. So, she made up excuses for seeking her. It was less painful to avoid their feelings, after all. Maybe she needed extra information on the yellow lizards that would be present on the wall. Maybe she needed someone to talk to. Both of those were obviously fake reasons, but believing them is easier than it would be to think about about the truth.
She didn't need to think it. Not needing to think about it was the reason she became a bounty hunter as a slugpup! She hunted specific slugcats for the scavengers, and they gave her her food and pearls in exchange for their corpses. It was an easy life.
Of course that dark red slugcat and her stupid dead father had to ruin it all. Of course she had to have those puppy eyes making her demands impossible to refuse. Of course she had to have an endearing clumsy personality. Of course she had to have this perfect shade of red. Her companion is perfect, of course she had to be! Even though she knows good things don't happen to bad people, she hopes that the world would let them have their companion back in a good state.
Only thinking about her potentially braving the dangers of the water system, to fend of the leeches, is enough to make the pink slugcat's heart bleed. At least, she most likely avoided the vultures. She knows her companion well enough to know that she wouldn't be foolish enough to try that, at least.
Something in her was scared that the dark red slugcat wouldn't want to see her after getting abandoned, that she simply went back to safer areas and forgot about her. She would have the right to do that, and she could, good things don't happen to bad people, after all… Her doing so would be a good excuse for the pink slugcat to go back to her habits, at least.
No, she couldn't think like that, as she enters the pipe leading to the next room, she chooses to stop questioning her resolve. Her giving up and failing would lead to the same result, after all. Her objective is clear. She would find her, no matter what it took. She would find her loved one.
The dark red slugcat had used around a third of the cycle thinking about her situation. The piping she is currently in was full of scavengers when she went to sleep before the last rain cycle, but it is currently entirely empty.
Still, they peep through the upper entrance of the pipe they are in to check if any lizards are in the surroundings. She was expecting a vulture to maybe be there, or a lizard, and then she'll have to run, but it isn't what appeared at the summit of the metallic construction.
She was able to see a pink slugcat shaped silhouette, her companion's. Why was she here? Shouldn't she currently be scaling the wall in search of the red slugcat's father? Did they really wait just for her?
The pink slugcat was expecting the search to be longer, for the dark red slugcat to have taken it slowly. They didn't expect her to be able to reach all the way into the wastes in such a short time.
If she didn't know better, she would doubt her vision, doubt that a red slugcat head was popping out of the pipe that was in front of her, her companion's. Such a speed would have required her to not have died on any cycle.
After confirming that her vision isn't playing them any trick, they still remain immobile. She is so proud of her companion for having been able to reach all the way there, so happy that she did care about her, so glad that she was finally there, close to her.
Both stayed stunned and silent for a short while until the shadow of a vulture forces them to both quickly go into the pipes, still in silence. After hesitating for a short moment, they hugged each other tightly.
They are no longer separated, they were together! The pink slugcat had not abandoned the red one! The dark red one had not given up! The pink slugcat's protective sounds made obvious that a similar situation would not be let again. The dark red slugcat could revel in her partner's fur. They would take a small break after reaching a safer and more comfortable region. Then, they would finish the mission and find the dark red slugcat's father.
Even if this universe is harsh, unforgiving, detestable, even if anything in it wants to kill them, even if it was all absurd, together, they will face it. Companionship does make immortality easier to live. Love does make immortality easier to live, even in the case of it not being recognised.
No matter what, they now will stay together. Together while meeting the overworking computer. Together while meeting the dying one. Together while meeting the traces left on this world by those who already left it. They would stay together until ascension and would even stay together after it. So is the way of the dark red slugcat and of the pink slugcat. A way of love.