"So... I've been asleep for a year?"

"Yeah..."

Clock sat across from his brother, his parents far off, talking to each other. Stop showed quite a bit of care and patience in telling Clock about what happened.

"And you don't know why?" Clock blinked his shiny blue eyes.

"No... You just came home really late one night, toppled over, and you were out. At least, that's what I heard..."

"Huh..." Clock shifted a little, then smirked, "So that's why you haven't beaten me up yet."

Stop smirked back, "Yeah, I've grown up a little. Lucky you, huh?"

"Mmm, yeah..." Clock looked at his brother, finally getting a good look at what he'd grown into. His pelt was not as dark as Clock's, but not too light, with a bright red stripe squiggling down his side. His antlers were the same shape as Clock's, but not as big. He didn't have a mask, but just showed his face, and his now dark, ocean-blue eyes. He was quite the stag now. His new attitude made it even better.

"You've grown quite a bit, you know? It's weird for me..." Clock continued, scratching a hoof on the ground slightly. "It seems like I was only asleep for the night. So I still remember you as jerky teenage Stopwatch. Now you're all... Nice and stuff. Plus you look so different. It's a big change I guess..."

Stop nodded, "I can see what you're saying..." They both took a moment to just stare at whatever they wanted. "It's good to have you back." He chuckled, "I never thought I'd ever say that..."

***

It had been a few days, Clock was slowly regaining his memory from before he fell asleep. He remembered the crack in the statue, what he saw inside, but the rest was still a little fuzzy.

It was very cloudy that morning, rain was inevitable. Everyone could feel it. All morning, Clock didn't seem like himself. He was still Clock, but he didn't seem as happy or energetic. When it started to rain, it just got worse.

Stop found his brother sitting on top of the hill, finding no protection from the rain. He looked different, darker, more depressing. His pelt seemed to turn to a blue-ish brown, his antlers becoming darker and shrinking a little. He managed to change his mask from the Hands mask to a sharp bird-faced mask.

"Hey, Clock, why are you out here all alone? You're soaked!" Stop called, trotting closer to him.

Clock didn't respond. He just continued to stare.

"Clock, what's wrong with you?" Stop trotted closer until he was right behind him.

Still no response.

"CLOCK!" Stop shouted.

The younger stag seemed to jump slightly, turning his head a little.

Stop sighed, "Finally, didn't you hear me?"

Clock looked around a little, shifting his dull eyes. He finally landed on Stop, "Where you talking to me?..."

"Uhh, yeah? I was calling your name." Stop shot him a confused look.

Clock furrowed his brow, shaking his head slightly, "No, I believe you were calling someone named Clock..."

Stop blinked. What was this? A joke? "But... You are Clock. Obviously, what is this, man, stop fooling around."

Clock just shook his head again. "No, you have me mistaken. I am not that one you want..."

"But you're pictogram says Clock! How do you explain that?"

Clock looked up for a moment, "No, you must check again."

Stop looked at his pictogram. In truth, deer couldn't read pictograms, but there was a sense inside them that told them what their name sounded like. Normally, Stop would've felt the sound "loc", or something similar. This didn't feel the same. It startled him, the feeling was different. It sounded something like "ow tow". That wasn't Clock...

"Well then... Who are you? Why do you look like my brother?"

"My name is Down Town. An obvious name, given my position in life... And why I look like your brother, I wouldn't know. Perhaps it was chance that we chose the same look."

This wasn't right. Stop had Clock's pictogram memorized, and this was the exact same pictogram. Why it felt so different confused him. It was Clock, yet it wasn't. But why? Stop knew of deer who had something like two souls, one of them was almost always dead, or from a previous life. Was this happening to Clock? Who was this Down Town, where did he come from, why is he here? Too many questions, but maybe he could answer some.

"Why are you here? I've never seen you before..."

Down Town blinked, then sighed silently. "I come only when it rains. Either that, or this forest is constantly raining..."

Stop tilted his head, "No, it doesn't rain all the time..." Why would he only come out when it rained?

"Ah... I've never seen the sun... Sometimes I think I'm cursed for it... The rain puts me in a depression that I will never escape, and that's why I am called Down Town. But I always wonder where I go when the sun comes out..."

Stop twitched an ear, nodding.

"I must be boring you. You should go search for your brother. I'm sure he's wondering where you are too..."

"Oh uh..." Stop bowed his head, "Of course... Goodbye.."

He ran off. Strange... A deer with the same pictogram as Clock's, but only came out in the rain? It seemed to connect, but Stop wasn't good at figuring those kinds of things out. He had to ask someone about this.

***

The next day was very sunny. The rain gave everything a sleek, wet sheen, which helped the sun make everything look glorious. Stop looked around, finding a familiar stag not too far away. That must be Down Town, it's the same place he was sitting yesterday...

But when he trotted up to the sleeping stag, he looked different. The bird mask was gone. But what startled him the most was his pictogram. Yesterday, it sounded like "ow tow", but today, it sounded like "loc" again. So it was Clock? What the hell was going on?

Clock woke up by himself, looking up to Stop. He smiled, "Morning, Stop!" He stood, looking around. He blinked, "Did it rain last night? But I thought I went star-gazing last night... Weird." He twitched an ear, "Ew, I'm all wet..." He shook his fur, and trotted off to a patch of tall grass.

Stop stared at him. Something was wrong.