The scenery shuddered as it came into focus. Though, even that was incorrect. The area surrounding Kat was a mosaic of colours that seemed to crack and shift in strange patterns as they surrounded a still figure sitting in a bed.
No… not still, the faint breaths could be seen when Kat examined the individual closely. They seemed to have fox ears and tails, but it was hard to make out. The shape was indistinct and fuzzy, almost like the radio wasn't quite tuned to the correct frequency.
Kat tried to get a sense of everything, but as she tried to focus on the scenery, she continued to have her eyes drawn to two vague shapes. One was an effigy of fire, and the other an effigy of ice. They were both being held by the distinctly fox-like person.
*Is this really when Minor and Major were born.* "What's going on Minor" asked Kat
"This is the moment we were born. Do forgive the poor ah… resolution. It remains as but the faintest of impressions, and even then, only because of its significance" said Minor
"Slipping back into calm and collected Minor much?" asked Kat
Minor flinched a bit at that "Perhaps a little… I'm just… a bit better like that"
Kat scooped Minor into her arms again and she let out a small yip "This Minor is much cuter, and is closer to the person I remember" said Kat
"Thanks" said Minor, "I guess this is nice"
Kat let the moment continue for a bit longer before speaking up, aware that they didn't have as much time as they might like "Ok so what now?"
"Oh right" said Minor "We can move on once the memory has played out"
Kat frowned, "Has it not played out?" asked Kat. As she examined the scene nothing really seemed to be happening. The fire on the fire-like effigy moved slightly, and the angle the light hit the ice effigy changed just barely. But to Kat's potent eyes nothing else seemed to really be happening.
Minor shook her head "This one is a bit weirder than the others. It will end when it's ready and then I can move us on"
Kat rested her tail under her chin "Is that safe? I mean what about the nightmares? Actually, more important question, should we be leading them through Major's most important memories?"
Minor shrugged "I did say the nightmares twisted things… but ah, it's not quite so bad for Major's stuff. It reverts after a while. I think it's because these are her nightmares. Perhaps she has like… anti-nightmare stuff as well?
"The reason they scare me is because when I looked at them… they seemed a lot more frightening, and more… permanent… I think" said Minor
*I guess that makes at least some sense. If Minor is only a soul and some memories having those changed at all could lead to dire consequences. But, in Major's case she has a brain… wait but didn't Minor have access to that for a while…*
*Damnation. I just don't really know anything at all about this dream state. And it isn't like I can ask the system like this, and Minor… she means well, but it's clear she doesn't really understand this all either.*
"So… how safe are we in Major's memories" asked Kat to pass the time
Minor grimaced "Not as safe as I'd like actually. I can sort of leave whenever I want… but it isn't easy, it takes concentration and a bit of time. The nightmares can catch up theoretically, but it isn't a major concern
"The main issue is just that when they do, it would be hard for me to run away properly. And the ah… deeper I guess? Deeper we go, the harder it is for me to get out. That's why I haven't done this myself…
"The risk was a bit too great on my own. I tried but I only got as far as the attack before I chickened out. I guess it makes sense. I could tell that everything past that would be harder for me to access" said Minor
"Wait a second that doesn't make much sense" said Kat
Minor went to speak but then the room seemed to… flicker for a moment. "One moment Kat it seems we can move on"
Minor screwed up her face in concentration and the scene started to shift. The walls melded into something closer to a pure white, but it still had splashes of colour, like a painter had flicked their brush towards the wall after dunking it in paint.
The figures of fire and ice morphed into slightly larger ones. The fire one seemed to have some blocks in front of it, while the ice one had a spinning top. The top was a solid green, and the blocks all had one colour each, red, blue, green, and yellow.
There was a snap as the scene settled and the figures started moving. *I guess these must represent Major and Minor. Major the ice, and Minor the fire…* Kat then noticed the tiny tails each figure had. Even then, they still made up almost a third of the figures size. Kat hadn't seen them in the first figure likely because they were hidden in the larger figure, but now they were plain to see.
"Right, so… what didn't make sense" asked Minor
"That you can access the earlier memories fine but the later ones get harder" said Kat
Minor shrugged "It seems as though, Major started subconsciously to separate her experiences and mine. Later memories are more firmly tied to her and it makes it harder for me to slip out"
Kat let her tail wind its way around her neck and then loosened it a few times as she spoke "I guess… so what is happening here?"
"This" Minor said "Is the first time Major ever hurt me"
As if on cue the figures started moving. The firey one was moving the blocks around in a random order, and the ice one was staring at the spinning top… that wasn't moving to Kat's eyes.
Looking closer revealed that it had lines around the edges, giving the illusion that it was spinning, but the lack of motion shattered it rather thoroughly. Eventually, the top fell to its side. When it did the ice figure reached out for the fire one's tail.
Ice, pawed at fire, for a few moments before seemingly getting annoyed and grabbing a fistful of 'fur' and pulling. An ear-splitting shriek was let loose. Kat covered her ears trying to escape the sound as the world seemed to shake in anger.
Minor stood there as if nothing was even happening, but Kat was on her knees struggling through the pain. *Why is Minor fine… what the hell is this?* Kat grit her teeth and tried to bear the pain, but every few seconds it seemed to intensify… until it just stopped.
Kat looked up glad it was done. She was naïve. The screaming redoubled and in her pain addled state she could vaguely tell that both figures were crying now. But Minor noticed her distress and walked over and tapped Kat's ears.
All of a sudden the sound cut off, but she could still see the figures 'crying' "What happened?" asked Kat
"It seems that your hearing might be even better than my own. See the key to this memory is the crying. The sound is what stuck with Major. It is what made the IMPRESSION" said Minor, with a strange echo on the final word.
"Right… but why were you fine?" asked Kat
"Oh… well, I ah… I sort of just turned my sense of sound off kinda? And well… I would have done the same for you but you have rather tiny ears and I just… I didn't think it would be that bad really… in fact you reacted even worse than I did the first time" said Minor
Kat frowned as she looked at the still crying figure "Is this really just the start?" asked Kat
Minor shook her head "Actually this is one of the worst memories. As we move through, they get clearer and become more… realistic? I suppose. Not for a while yet of course. Not till we are way into the future but eventually"
"Wait" said Kat furrowing her brows "Didn't you say you haven't been passed the attack?"
Minor nodded "I did say that, but that is only since this whole debacle went down. I've spent plenty of time in Major's memories, it's how I lived sort of. I didn't need to worry about getting trapped because they weren't all so closed off. I could leave when I wanted to. It was only after she really shut down that I noticed the clear divide between the oldest memories."
"Right… so no more ear destroying sounds?" asked Kat hopefully
"Well…" said Minor with a slight cringe "There might be a few more, but nothing this bad… I don't think… I hope"
*Yeah I certainly hope as well Minor…* said Kat fearing for her ears.