Redhawk Caldera my whole life is thunder.

It was surprisingly easy to just let go of the world and go away to a place where he would no longer be a bother. To a place of nothingness, void; Eljay had never talked or thought much about death, so he did not know where that place was. As his breathing slowed he felt oddly at peace. It was a gradual feeling at first, where he could let go of his woes while in the distance a bright light lingered. Then, as he came closer to the light, suddenly all of his troubles fell from his shoulders as though others took them from him and he no longer needed to carry them himself.

There he saw Uncle P and Petey and they embraced him as though welcoming him into their midst, though he found himself wondering for a brief moment if it was only because he willed them to be here. But soon that thought drifted away like a feather on the wind, just like all of his thoughts. They were gone, for he no longer needed them in this place as he had needed them at the Caldera.

All thoughts but one distant lingering feeling, a thought, a... word? Jay — once, at first, then repeated several times. It wasn't his own thoughts, his own voice, the word. It was something else. Something that didn't belong to this place.

And as the word lingered and rang through the light-filled endless space around them, Petey and Uncle P looked at him. And then there were others, wolves he didn't know, and all of them turned towards him as if he was the cause of their unrest. Eljay looked at Uncle P, and Uncle P shook his head with a sad expression — one that said 'sorry, sport' — while Petey nuzzled against his chest softly.

And with a shock, Eljay realised that they were saying goodbye. And all of the thoughts and emotions and worries that'd fallen off his shoulders rushed back and the light was gone. There was nothing but darkness, but Eljay was voiceless and could not call out for help.

All there was around him was that word.

Jay Jay.

And with a shock Eljay awoke and his breathing quickened, his heart suddenly pounding fully where it had almost stopped before. And as he thought back to the happiness and peace he had felt — of yet unaware of Liffey — Eljay could do nothing but fall into a series of sorrowful sobs, with the knowledge that even the afterlife did not want him.