[GG] It was never like this in Toonie Town

It had been a core part of her entire existence since her creation and something she'd clung to in her time of deep confusion after arriving to the Grove. She wouldn't be afraid she wouldn't worry and when Adrienne would speak of Toonie Town, the collapse, what they had lost, this strange new world, she would smile and tell her love not to worry.
She sure didn't worry.
That hadn't even been a conscious choice. The fear and worry just didn't get to her. It never had, and she saw that as her one true strength.

Her one true strength.

Then came the Ice. Ice in her veins. A chill in her spine like someone had placed a cold hand on her back. Her breath fighting the snare around her throat while her lungs pounded uselessly at the tight walls squeezing them. What was this? What was this feeling?
She shook her head trying to snap out of whatever had come over her. She was on her way out. She tried to move from the frozen position she'd found herself in, but she received only a faint sensation of falling. What?? What is this?? What is this??? She sat down, hand on her Phylakardia. It was almost buzzing.
There was something in the back of her mind, not quite a memory, not quite a dream. Endless falling falling falling. She had been holding Adrienne tight. Both crying as the world around them slowly faded into nothingness. They knew their fate, they had both accepted it, as long as they had each other it didn't matter. As long as they had each other until the very end, it would all be okay.
And then they woke up.
And then they were in the Grove.
But that wasn't all of it was it?
She strained her mind. There was something else there, in between her closing her eyes for the last time and opening them again for the first. She grabbed for it over and over, but it kept slipping, slipping. Only shadows played on her eyelids, and whether they were from how hard she was squeezing her eyes or they were part of her memory she couldn't tell.
But she felt it. She couldn't remember, no visuals, no sound, no smell, but a cold shock rushing through her body. Her hands clammy, her skin prickly.
*She had changed.*
She looked down at her shaking hands, trying to catch her breath as a revelation slowly crept up on her.
She had changed on a fundamental level. She wasn't made up of the same stuff she used to. Her whole being was new and she'd pretended it wasn't. She had no idea where they were, and she'd told herself she didn't care. Her friends had died and she had pretended they hadn't. *Adrienne* had almost died, and she'd pretended she didn't. The whole concept of death had been so new to her and yet she'd understood it as soon as she arrived, but feigned ignorance along the way. *They had never been in any danger in Toonie town*. Even as their wold collapsed, they weren't in danger. She was just sad it had to end.
In the grove.... they could *die.*
She looked out the window, the dark trees stretching up towards the sky like they tried to consume it. Every shadow created by the crimson moon felt undefined and deep, holding horrors unimaginable. Every day the Grove could be attacked by another predator looking for it's next meal. Every day was a day living in danger.