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Five Pebbles sat idle among the remains of his chamber, small pieces of the chilly clouds falling all around him and to the ground in a white blanket of melancholy.
In front of him floats a pearl, playing a soft tune, crackling and cutting out every few seconds. He hums silently along to it, voice weak and shaky. It hurt to do so, but he'd gotten used to the pain cycles ago. It didn't bother him as much as it used to.
In all honesty, he was more afraid of the state of his musical pearl.
It started cutting out quite a few cycles ago, but he hadn't thought to pay it any mind until now. What if it broke? When would that be? In ten cycles? A hundred cycles? Next cycle?
He didn't want to think about it.
This pearl is all he has now.
Crunch, crunch, crunch.
The iterator quickly snaps out of his trance, looking up from the ground with one sharp movement, accompanied by an equally sharp pain shooting through his head. He winces.
However, where he expects to see a scavenger here to steal his precious pearl, or a lizard who intends to turn him into its chew toy, he sees something different. A small, green, cat-like creature.
Yes, he's seen one of these before. His memory is fuzzy, but he definitely remembers something similar from back when he was in his... 'prime', if you can even call it that.
"..."
Pebbles stares at the creature wordlessly as it tilts its head at him in curiosity.
"Hello... little... green thing..."
He manages to utter out.
"N-...nothing here... nothing left..."
The small, green creature inches closer, crouched low to the ground. Pebbles backs away instinctually, his pearl dropping to the ground.
But then, it just... sits in his lap, tail curled around his torso.
The iterator sits there, stunned.
And then he sighs.
"...Okay. Thank you... for... company... little animal..."
-
It's been a while. Pebbles isn't sure how long, but his best guess would have to be a couple hours.
The creature was still curled around him, and his pearl was back to playing the choppy melody it always did. His hand rests on the animal's head, though it required a fair bit of energy from the iterator just to get it there in the first place.
Looking down at the creature, it now appears as white as the snow that surrounds the two. It's small body trembles, its breaths coming out shaky and cold, yet it doesn't move.
"L-little... green thing... It is... cold. Cold is dangerous. Please... find warmth..."
It doesn't budge, so Pebbles tries again, this time slightly more stern. Or, as stern as he can be, anyway.
"Little animal... please find... shelter. Cold is... danger..."
It doesn't move an inch. He sighs.
"Going to... die..."
The creature curls tighter around him.
He'll take that as a no.
-
It's been a few hours more now. Or, at least, Pebbles suspects it's been.
Inspecting the green thing now, it appears to be more of a dark maroon thing than that. Pebbles had given the creature many warnings over its time with him, to no avail.
So he gave up.
Maybe it didn't even understand him, or perhaps it didn't care. Either way, he appreciated the company, even if he knew it wouldn't last.
An odd stillness in his lap awakens him from his thoughts, as he looks down at the cold, dead corpse of the creature he felt compelled to call his friend. The first living thing he's seen in cycles, gone just like that.
"Freezing... alone again..."
In that moment, Five Pebbles felt as thought he would've cried, if only he could.