Dogday the protector of tears

Scene: In the Forest of Forgotten Memories, under a light rain of red ash. Catnap appears from the fog, his gaze blank, as if he can't remember anything.

(Dogday stops. The air is heavy. He sees him… he’s there, standing. Alive. But lost.)

Dogday (with a shaky voice): —Catnap… Is that you?

(He takes a step. The floor creaks. Catnap doesn't react. His eyes don't recognize him. Pain. Burning in his chest.)

Dogday (softer): —I crossed a world made of thorns to find you. No… you can't look at me like that… like I'm a stranger.

(He approaches, slowly, as if afraid of breaking a dream. He looks at the flower marked on his cheek: Catnap's.)

Dogday (with a sad half-smile): —Do you know what this is? It's your memory… one I protected when you couldn't anymore.

(Catnap backs up a little. Dogday doesn't follow. He just holds out his paw.)

Dogday (in a firm voice): —I didn't come to force you to remember. I came because even though your memory is empty… my heart isn't. And it still holds your name.

(Silence falls like heavy snow. Dogday looks down. A red drop falls from his eye… not a tear. It’s liquid memory.)

Dogday (in a whisper): —I chose you, even when you could no longer choose me.

(Catnap takes a step. A spark flickers in his eyes. Brief. Like a star about to go out or light up again…)

In a world covered by an eternal crimson night, where memories rot like old fruit, there existed a being named Dogday. He was not quite dog, nor quite spirit. His orange fur shone in the red light of the sky, and his once innocent eyes now glowed like fireflies caught in a storm of grief.

Dogday was the last Keeper of Remembrance, a race that died out after the Great Mist, when the emotions of the living began to fade. He had a mission: to preserve the most precious memories of forgotten souls… even if it meant absorbing their sadness.

With his pilot's cap and enchanted goggles, Dogday could see the memories floating in the air, like wounded butterflies. Each flower marked on his cheek was a memory he chose to carry with him, even if it hurt. The current flower… belonged to a boy who had lost his mother in the collapse of the Shadow Valley.

One day, Dogday found something he hadn't expected: a memory without an owner. A blurry image of a creature looking at him lovingly... but who was it? Why did his chest burn at the sight? He, who knew everyone's memories except his own, had stumbled upon a fragment of his lost past.

Thus began his journey to the Tower of Oblivion, the forbidden place where the guardians' memories are hidden. He faced living nightmares, mirrors that lied, and echoes of himself that tried to break his soul. But he kept going, driven by that image: that mysterious creature who had once loved him.

When he finally reached the summit, Dogday found a sealed memory… his own. He discovered that he, too, had once been loved, by a being named Catnap, his companion and protector. But to save Catnap from being devoured by the Mist, Dogday offered his own memory as payment.

Now, with the truth recovered and his chest burning with emotion, Dogday knew what he had to do: find Catnap, who was still alive… but had forgotten everything.

And so, with a new flower