Velvet room…? Legosi tilted his head. His eyes began to adjust to the lights shining above, and he could make out the two mysterious figures. The first-Igor, Legosi presumed-seemed to be an ibis bird of some sort, from that long beak. He was older looking, dressed in a black suit with a white handkerchief tucked into one pocket. Most notable to Legosi were those large, wide eyes looking straight up at him. It creeped Legosi out a little, he looked so strange. He averted his gaze and looked towards the second figure-a white owl-a masked owl, specifically-with bright yellow eyes unusual for its species. They were in a midnight-blue coat and dark pants, with a bright blue scarf speckled with gold spots and circles. On the left side of the coat he wore a silver button with a large V engraved on it. Atop their head was a beret, light blue, with a yellow lining around the edge, and a gold tip on top.

"This is my assistant, Albert." Igor gestures to the owl, who nods in greeting to the wolf, smiling warmly. "Good evening." The owl greeted him.

Legosi stared at the two of them for a moment, unsure what to make of all this. "...where am I?" He finally said.

Igor smiled and elaborated: "The Velvet Room-an area housed between the realms of mind and matter, dream and reality. We summoned you here through your dreams-you are safely asleep in the real world."

Yeah, I probably am...He reasoned in his head. This was surely a dream. Everything that had happened must have been.

The long-beaked bird continued on. "Generally, only those who have signed a contract in some way can enter this place."

Legosi tilted his head, and in response, the owl, Albert, spoke this time: "In exchange for aiding in the awakening of your persona-and in turn, saving your life-you have agreed to follow the path of your inner voice and accept our services-and the terms thereof." Albert elaborated.

"I'm not really following…" The wolf said.

"That butterfly you were so fascinated with? That's how we did it. I won't go into the fine details of how, but we stopped you from being consumed by your shadow in the knick of time." The owl explained, although Legosi still didn't understand how a butterfly could do all of that-he didn't even know what he meant by 'a shadow consuming him'. This was definitely one of the weirdest yet most vivid dreams he ever had.

"You will not need to understand everything right this moment" Igor spoke again. "All will make sense in due time, actor." He gestured with his hand, and the curtains behind Legosi spread open, followed by the flickering of a white light in the darkness far back in the theatre-a projector flashing an image upon the now-revealed screen on-stage.

"For now, let us provide you only with what you will need for your first trial ahead." The long-beaked bird said as a countdown appeared on screen. The lights dimmed, darkening the stage and clearing up the image above the wolf. The film opened up in black and white to the image of a miniature theatre, similar to that of a puppetry set. The little curtains spread open, showing a puppet hanging from strings-it was clad in a regal outfit, like that of a king or emperor of sorts. Atop its head, an exaggeratedly large crown sat, visibly weighing down on the emperor's head, and even covering up most of its face.

"Life often imitates art, wouldn't you agree?" The bird commented in regards to the film. "These films exemplify that concept-they detail events that have yet to take place, you see."

The emperor desperately pulls at the strings pulling at its limbs in all directions. Despite its resistance, the strings hold firm. They begin to stretch taught, pulling in every direction. The doll's limbs spread out, body being strainfully pulled in all directions. It fights on, uselessly. Its joints start to look visibly stressed, its arms, legs, and head being pulled apart. The doll shakes violently, as if it was a living thing in ist desperate last moments, until it finally gives. Legosi jumps back a bit with a gasp as the doll is ripped apart-limbs, torso, and head flying out with a loud and nauseating snap, wooden body parts dangling limply from the strings. Horrifically, the body parts squirted out with a dark fluid, somehow-obviously blood. The fluid drips down onto the small stage, pooling out all over, leaking down from the front edge.

In the film's final moments, a creature's muzzle peeks out from the curtains in the back-it resembled that of some kind of cervine, Legosi noted. Its tongue slithered out from its lips and licked up the blood sensuously from the stage, before the film flickers out.

Legosi didn't like where this dream seemed to be going. The lights flashed on again, and the wolf turned back to the strange animals in the front row.

"A terrible tragedy lies within your future." Igor stated. "Someone close to you has become the target of a beast-A shadow similar to the one you fought on the night of your awakening. You are entrusted with hunting down this beast and eliminating it, preventing this tragedy from taking place."

Hunting…? Legosi thought. Albert spoke: "This task will require you to hone your newly awakened abilities to their highest potential possible. To master your power, you will require our assistance."

"We only ask one thing in exchange for our services…" Igor said, grinning widely. "You must take on full responsibility for the decisions you make on your mission."

Legosi nodded, slowly. "Okay...that's simple enough, I guess." He answered.

Igor clapped, visibly pleased. "Wonderful! Hold onto this." The bird snapped his fingers, and in a brief sparkle of light, a card attached to a lanyard emerged from thin air, looping around his neck, much to his shock. "From this night forth, you are a guest of the Velvet Room. This card will allow you to visit us again in the future."

Legosi looked down at the card, carefully picking it up between two fingers, and examining it: 'VIP PASS: VELVET ROOM.' it said on the front, in bold, silver, embossed lettering.

"We will meet again in the near future. Until then, rest and replenish yourself." The curtains began to close in front of Legosi. "Until next time, Legosi."

5/10, Evening

Legosi's eyes slowly opened up, the soft light of a rainy afternoon lighting the empty hospital room he found himself within. Rain softly plunked against the windows, the sky a light grey outside. He winced out, his head throbbing as he slowly rose up. He rubbed his eyes and sighed deeply, looking around and wondering why he was here. He saw a bag sitting in one of the chairs on his bedside-Jack's bag.

"Legosi!" Jack's voice called out happily, making Legosi jump back as the golden retriever rushed to his friend's bedside, breaking out into a frantic flurry of questions:"How are you feeling? Does your nose hurt at all? How about your head?! Are you lucid?!Say somethi-" He went on, before Legosi stopped him and told him he felt mostly alright-besides the splitting headache in his head. The dog took a moment to calm down, sighing in relief that his friend indeed seemed alright.

"I'm so happy you're awake, I've been anxious all week-I couldn't stop wondering when you'd wake up. The doctors thought you might've been in a coma…" Jack vented, and Legosi looked at the dog questioningly.

"...all week…?" Legosi muttered out, confusion in his voice.

"Oh, you wouldn't know...sorry, um…" Jack formulated his words, then spoke: "So, there was a sudden earthquake a few nights ago, and you fell and hit your head against the fountain outside the theatre, and were unconscious for almost a week!" Jack explained.

"...almost a week…?" His eyes were wide in shock.

"Yeah. Zoe called me, and we managed to get you to the hospital-we told the school you fell down the stairs and hit your head."

"What day is it?!" Legosi asked, panic in his voice. He then remembered that his pet was in his bag the night of his 'fall'. "W-where's Rhino-chan?! I need to feed him! You didn't leave my bag, right?!" Legosi threw the sheets off of him, trying to get up, but Jack stopped him.

"N-no, no! I have your bag at the dorm-I've been feeding Rhino all week, he's A-Ok, Legosi. I followed your notes and everything." Jack reassured. "Don't stress out so soon after waking up, it's not good for you." The dog insisted.

Legosi signed out deeply, glad his pet was safe. "Thank you, Jack." He said, before the wolf noticed something danging around his neck. He looked down-a lanyard with a blue and gold plastic card on it. He slowly took the card in his hands and read the embossed lettering on the front.

'VIP PASS: VELVET ROOM.' it read...

Legosi felt like he was going to pass out all over again.

The events of that night all flashed through his mind at once-the blue butterfly, the red fog, the blue-masked monster, that giant wolf with a gun…

The rabbit...

A deep feeling of shame washed over Legosi. He had never come so close to committing such a horrible act of violence in his entire life. He never really thought he would come so close to even considering such a thing, and yet...

I...I almost ate her...he thought, his large, clawed hands trembling. He obviously always knew that, as a wolf, he was capable of that, but never had he faced the true reality of such a thing, until then. It always felt so far away, like something that could never happen to him, as long as he was careful. But that was a lie he told himself. He wanted to kill her that night...rip into her, like she was nothing but a meal. He likely would've, if everything didn't spiral out of control like it did. He felt sick to his stomach just thinking about it, guilt weighing like a boulder inside of him.

And on top of that morbid reality check, he also knew that everything that had happened was all real…what the heck was he supposed to do now?

"Legosi? Are you okay?" Jack asked, head tilted and concern in his eyes. Legosi shook himself from the dread spiral, and nodded to his friend.

"So...there was an earthquake...Did anything else happen since I was out?" Legosi asked his friend, thinking back to Louis. "The Drama Club, do you know if everything is...um...okay?" Legosi tried not to sound weird asking all of this.

Luckily, Jack didn't seem to notice-he didn't seem happy either, though. His ears were drooped, and he shrunk into himself, looking like he was formulating an answer in his mind. His face looked troubled, and reluctant. Legosi knew what that expression meant, and he had a bad feeling.

Finally, Jack spoke, his voice solemn: "Legosi...another student in your club-Kai...he was found dead the morning after you got hurt."

Legosi's blood ran cold, a deep dread swelling up within him upon processing what Jack had just said. Despite knowing now that it had been several days, it was practically like he had just seen the weasel yesterday...and now he was dead.

"I'm sorry...were you two close?" Jack said.

Legosi didn't respond-in his mind, the image of Kai's anger-warped face flashed by...followed by the empty-eyed weasel mask of that thing he had seen that night. Horrible implications popped into his mind.

"...Legosi?"

The wolf was pulled back into reality, and he remembered what Jack had asked, shaking his head in response. "No, we didn't hang out or talk much...it's just surreal...so soon after Tem's death, too…" He said, now wondering about that incident as well in relation to the weird things that were happening to Him. "H-how did he…?" Legosi asked in a mutter.

"The police said it was a suicide-he drowned himself in the pond east of campus, somehow…"

That couldn't be-how does an animal drown themselves on purpose? Legosi didn't like it, but he had a feeling that that monster he saw outside the theatre was somehow related. He didn't know how, exactly, but the coincidences were too obvious.

"I'm not sure about how the Drama Club is doing exactly-probably not so good considering they lost two members…" Jack said, sadness in his voice. "But the whole school feels more divided than ever now."

Legosi breathed out tiredly. "Let's talk about something else." He said, wanting to just get his mind off of everything for now-it was making his brain sting. As much as the wolf didn't want anything to do with it, he would have to figure out what was happening, considering he was now involved in it all. He thought back to the Velvet Room-that film in particular, as well as what those weird birds had told him.

You must take on full responsibility for the decisions you make...The weird voice of that Ibis whispered in his head, followed by the thought of that rabbit…

Shame washed over the wolf again. She must've been horrified by everything that had happened-he could recall the shock in her face, and the claw wound on her forearm...the thought of it weighed down on him. He couldn't just pretend he didn't do what he did to her. His momentary weakness nearly led to the death of an innocent herbivore. He couldn't hide away from such a sin.

I need to apologize to her...Legosi decided. He remembered her face pretty vividly-The round, dark eyes; her smell; her small, warm body; her soft fu-Stop it. He scolded himself. He would try and find her, and make everything right. Even if he might get in trouble for doing it, it was the right thing to do.

Alongside that, he was curious as to what the film meant...they said it predicted the future, somehow...that sounded insane, but everything about all this was insane. They also said that someone close to him was in danger. Legosi couldn't ignore that, even if it all somehow turned out to be nonsense.

"Let's go back to school." Legosi said, getting up from his bed-clad only in a blue hospital gown, which just barely covered up his large body. Jack looked away, pulling out some clothes he had for his friend from a bag he put underneath one of the chairs.

After getting dressed in private, Legosi and Jack boarded the bus back to the school grounds-arriving back on campus around just before seven P.M. The rain had cleared up on the way back, the sky now a mix of purple and yellow as the sun began to set, clashed against the dark-blue clouds that lingered after the storm. The walkways and paths were empty, strangely, despite how pretty the sky looked, although considering the sudden turn of events in the past week, perhaps it wasn't so bizarre for no one to be out before dark. Even Legosi began to pick up his pace as the gradually rolled in, Jack struggling to keep up with his friend's wide-strides on their way back to the dorms, until Legosi took him gently by the wrists to keep him safely by the wolf's side. Jack was perplexed by this, but went along with it, knowing it made his friend feel better, somehow.

Entering their dormitory lobby and entering the elevator, Legosi shook his head, wincing as he did so-his brain felt like an open sore: "Those headache pills they gave me are useless…" He whined.

"You probably should lay down for a while more, as crazy as that sounds." Jack suggests. While Legosi had a lot to catch up on, no doubt, but resting more didn't feel like a bad idea. It was pretty much night time anyway, and he wanted to get away from all the anxiety swirling around in his mind. The wolf nodded as the elevator pinged upon reaching the 3rd floor-where their dorm was situated.

Once the doors slid open, the tension in the air was palpable. In the 3rd floor TV room, several carnivores could be overheard gossiping about everything-tossing around rumors, conspiracies, and other assorted nasty comments regarding herbivores. Louis-senpai came up quite a bit in their conversation, Legosi could hear, which made him even more anxious.

The two headed straight to their room past the gossiping canines and other carnivores. They finally arrived to their room and closed the door behind them, shutting out the whole fiasco about Tem and Kai's deaths. Legosi felt like everything about it was making his head throb even worse than before. With everything that was going on, he wouldn't be surprised if his skull hatched like an egg.

Their dorm was empty except for the two of them-the others were doing a study group with other students in another dorm, Jack explained. Legosi nodded, honestly glad that the room would be quiet for a while, and walked to his cot, turning his head for a moment towards the plastic housing where Rhino-chan safely sat, chewing on a piece of banana. The wolf smiled-at least, with everything, Rhino was okay. It wasn't much at all of course, but it was a comfort.

Jack wished Legosi a good sleep as he plugged his earphones on and started playing a game on his Gamebone. Legosi nodded, and spread open the curtains and fell against the bedding, letting out a heavy breath of relief. His headache pains started to cease finally-pangs of hurt still lingering occasionally, but not as bad as it was on the way here. He started to finally calm down, his exhausted body giving in to the soft, quiet atmosphere. Legosi laid back into his cot, slowly drifting into a comfortable oblivion…

Only to open his eyes to a familiar crimson mist all around him, and the faint shape of a looming tower in the distance...