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Solapup · The Monster Catcher's Journal

• 0:34
  Hello travelers and monster catchers abound.
• 0:37
  My name is Stelliferous and today we are talking
• 0:40
  about another glyph that's a pup called Solapup.
• 0:45
  So have you ever felt like something's watching
• 0:48
  you, but not in a bad way like the moon watching
• 0:51
  over the earth? That's what it felt like the
• 0:54
  day Solapup found me. It was just past dusk at
• 0:57
  the Academy. Most of the other catchers were
• 0:59
  inside warming up by their glyph fire lanterns.
• 1:04
  Me? I was still outside, practicing, thinking,
• 1:07
  wishing that's when I saw her. She padded in
• 1:10
  slow from the edge of the training forest. Little
• 1:15
  pause, barely making a sound on the gravel. Her
• 1:20
  tail curled like a comet's trail. Her nose twitching
• 1:24
  like she was following a scent long lost. Her
• 1:28
  eyes? They were big and round, like she'd seen
• 1:31
  too much night and not enough day. She stopped
• 1:35
  five feet from me, sat down, tilted her head,
• 1:38
  and I whispered. Are you someone's glyph? She
• 1:41
  shook her head. A moment passed, and the wind
• 1:45
  carried a whisper of the name of Solo Pup to
• 1:50
  my mind. A glyph born from forgotten friendship
• 1:53
  and the warmth left behind in goodbyes. I reached
• 1:57
  out, she didn't flinch, just pressed her head
• 1:59
  into my palm like she'd - Been waiting for me
• 2:02
  longer than I'd been alive. So, this is the entry.
• 2:08
  Glyph entry, Sola Pup. Species, Sola Pup. Type,
• 2:12
  heart slash light. Classification, solitary.
• 2:16
  Guide, glyph. Height, two feet. Abilities, Echo
• 2:21
  Howl. Calls out to hidden allies or awakens nearby
• 2:25
  glyphs from dormancy. Warm glow, emits a calming
• 2:30
  aura that mends small emotional wounds. Pearl's
• 2:34
  shield, its tal - forms a protective spiral to
• 2:39
  deflect incoming attacks. Here's the lore from
• 2:44
  Solopup. Solopup is a rare glyph that only appears
• 2:48
  to those who feel forgotten or left behind. It
• 2:52
  bonds silently, instinctively choosing those
• 2:54
  whose hearts carry both strength and sorrow.
• 2:59
  Said if you ever see one under a crescent moon,
• 3:04
  you're about to meet a friend who will change
• 3:06
  your life. She hasn't left my side since, and
• 3:09
  every time someone says I was lucky to find her,
• 3:12
  I smile because I didn't find Solopup, she found
• 3:15
  me. Although it wasn't spoken out loud yet, it
• 3:22
  bloomed behind my eyes like a memory I'd never
• 3:24
  made. Soft and golden. It settled into my chest
• 3:28
  with the hush of someone or something sacred,
• 3:32
  something I had lost before I ever knew I needed
• 3:34
  it. A glyph born from forgotten friendship and
• 3:37
  the warmth that left behind in goodbyes. She
• 3:41
  stood there quietly beneath the swaying veil
• 3:43
  of willow branches, her form shimmering at the
• 3:47
  edges like sunlight seen through tears. Her body
• 3:51
  was made of downy, light and patchy. Stream -worn
• 3:57
  fur that flickered like faded polaroids. Memories
• 4:02
  of campfire's laughter and the last squeeze of
• 4:05
  a hug that meant everything. Her eyes, twin sunstones,
• 4:11
  held galaxies of once -shared secrets in the
• 4:14
  ache of those who remembered too well. I took
• 4:17
  a slow breath and reached out, fingers trembling
• 4:20
  with some half -remembered hope. She didn't flinch.
• 4:23
  Instead, she leaned forward, pressing her head
• 4:25
  into my palm, with a sigh so soft it might've
• 4:29
  been the rustle of grass. It was as if she'd
• 4:32
  been waiting for me longer than I'd been alive,
• 4:36
  as I've already said once, as if my presence
• 4:39
  completed a story she had been writing alone
• 4:41
  in the dark. And in that touch, something within
• 4:45
  me realigned, the grief I didn't know I'd carried
• 4:49
  out. of outgrown tree -fraught forts, lost pen
• 4:58
  pals, and the scent of a friend's sweatshirt.
• 5:01
  You never got to return, lift it just a little,
• 5:06
  not erased, just held, held by her, by solo pup.
• 5:13
  I whispered to her, not commands, not coaxing,
• 5:18
  just thoughts, feelings, fragments of all the
• 5:21
  friends I've had once. The ones who had drifted
• 5:26
  away with time or distance or silence, Sola Pup,
• 5:29
  seemed to understand she was made of that very
• 5:32
  ache. The warmth behind in goodbyes, too soft
• 5:36
  to be noticed when they first fell. I finally
• 5:40
  unclipped the locket -shaped seal from my belt,
• 5:44
  the kind used for catching glyphs who required
• 5:46
  something more than a flash of light and a name.
• 5:49
  This wasn't a battle, it was a bond. The locket
• 5:52
  opened like a blooming flower, casting out a
• 5:55
  slow pulse of golden energy, inviting, not demanding.
• 5:59
  Sola Pup stepped forward on her own. She sniffed
• 6:03
  the seal, paused, then looked up at me again.
• 6:08
  There was a flicker in her eyes, not hesitation,
• 6:10
  but recognition, and then gracefully willingly
• 6:12
  she pressed her nose to the locket's heart. There
• 6:15
  was no burst, no dramatic sound. Just a soft
• 6:20
  shimmer. a warmth that pressed through the air
• 6:22
  like the final hug of an old friend. The locket
• 6:25
  glowed briefly, then clicked shut, its center
• 6:28
  now bearing a faint paw -shaped insignia. Etched
• 6:32
  in soft amber light, I held it in both hands
• 6:36
  and closed my eyes, so the pup was with me now,
• 6:39
  not captured, chosen, and I knew I'd never walk
• 6:41
  alone again. Back at the sanctuary, the light
• 6:47
  outside had dulled to a soft twilight blue. The
• 6:50
  sky like brushed velvet behind the glass observatory
• 6:54
  at home. Sola Pup sat behind me on the padded
• 6:58
  beach, her ears twitched as she took in the flickering
• 7:00
  glyph lanterns and the occasional calls of other
• 7:03
  glyphs settling into their dens for the night.
• 7:06
  She hadn't left my side since the moment I caught
• 7:08
  her. Professor Orion stood nearby, arms folded
• 7:11
  tightly over his dark robe, eyes fixed on the
• 7:14
  glowing sigil of locket in my hand. The straw
• 7:17
  was tense, thoughtful, but stern. You shouldn't
• 7:22
  keep her," he said finally, voice calm but resolute.
• 7:26
  Sola Pup isn't like the others. She isn't meant
• 7:29
  to belong to anyone. I looked down at her. She
• 7:32
  was curled beside me now, head resting on my
• 7:35
  thigh, breathing soft and steady. I felt the
• 7:37
  ache in Orion's words. I really did. He wasn't
• 7:41
  being cold. He was just trying to protect something
• 7:43
  ancient, something sacred. But before I could
• 7:47
  respond, Professor Lang stepped into the room
• 7:49
  with a gentle click of his bracelets and that
• 7:52
  ever curious look in his eyes. Orion, he said,
• 7:56
  brushing a strand of silver streaked hair behind
• 7:59
  his ear. You're assuming she was taken. But you
• 8:03
  weren't there. SolaPup chose her. Orion shook
• 8:06
  his head. That kind of bond is dangerous. SolaPup
• 8:10
  is woven from emotional residue. Grief. Nostalgia.
• 8:13
  Memory. If Stella Ferris gets too attached, she'll
• 8:16
  feel everything SoloPup remembers. If SoloPup
• 8:19
  starts mirroring her, the line between Glyph
• 8:22
  and Keeper could be blurred, beyond repair. Lang
• 8:28
  stepped closer to me, his gaze softening as he
• 8:31
  took a look at SoloPup. Or perhaps that's exactly
• 8:35
  what needs to happen. Maybe it's not about control,
• 8:39
  maybe it's about healing. There was a long silence.
• 8:42
  I could feel both their eyes on me now, waiting
• 8:44
  to see where I stood between their philosophies.
• 8:48
  Sola Pup stirred gently, lifting her head and
• 8:50
  looking up at me with those sunlit eyes that
• 8:52
  held full summers in their sets. I didn't feel
• 8:56
  danger. I felt understood. She didn't come with
• 9:00
  me out of fear, I said quietly. She came because
• 9:04
  something in both of us was waiting. I don't
• 9:07
  want to erase that. Professor Orion sighed, rubbing
• 9:10
  the bridge of his nose, but said nothing more.
• 9:13
  Lang smiled. She's not a tool, I add it, my fingers
• 9:16
  brushing the top of Sola Pup's head. She's a
• 9:18
  promise I made without knowing it, and I intend
• 9:21
  to keep it. Orion turned towards the window,
• 9:24
  his silhouette framed in the soft starlight.
• 9:27
  Just be careful, he muttered. Lifts like Sola
• 9:31
  Pup don't break, they fade. And when they do,
• 9:34
  they take something with them. Lang laid a hand
• 9:37
  on my shoulder. then don't let her fade. I nodded,
• 9:42
  holding Soulpup a little closer. She wouldn't
• 9:44
  fade, not while I remembered, not while I cared,
• 9:48
  not while she was home. The trouble started the
• 9:54
  next morning. It was supposed to be a routine,
• 9:57
  just a calibration of aural harmonics in the
• 10:00
  lower sanctum. I check in with a few of the more
• 10:04
  sensitive glyphs in a gentle filled walk. to
• 10:06
  help SolaPup acclimate. But I should have noticed
• 10:09
  a sign. She'd been quiet at breakfast, usually
• 10:12
  so, or unusually so. She didn't eat, didn't wag
• 10:16
  her tail, didn't nudge my hand like she always
• 10:19
  did. Instead, she sat by the window staring out
• 10:21
  at the horizon with this distant look in her
• 10:24
  eyes. Like she was listening to something no
• 10:27
  one else could hear. By the time we reached the
• 10:30
  auric chamber, she was trembling. SolaPup, I
• 10:34
  knelt beside her. Hey, are you okay? She looked
• 10:38
  up at me with wide eyes, and then it hit me like
• 10:41
  a crashing -tie grief. Here, ancient and sharp,
• 10:45
  it wasn't hers, it wasn't mine, it was everyone's.
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  All the heartbreak, all the goodbyes she'd ever
• 10:52
  absorbed, all the sorrow she was made to carry,
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  and now it was spilling over. The walls of the
• 10:59
  chamber trembled as waves of emotional energy
• 11:02
  rippled out from her body in every direction.
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  Lights flickered, instruments shrieked. Nearby
• 11:09
  glyphs backed away, uneasy, disoriented. I tried
• 11:13
  to reach her, but the air between us shimmered
• 11:15
  with the pressure I couldn't push through. Then
• 11:18
  the door burst open. Professor Orion stormed
• 11:20
  in, robes billowing behind him, like a thunder
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  cloud. I told you this would happen, he snapped,
• 11:27
  striding towards me. She's not stable. She's
• 11:30
  too connected. She's an echo chamber for loss
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  and longing. She collapses now, she could take
• 11:37
  a dozen glyphs with her. I stood between him
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  and Solapup, heart racing. She's not dangerous,
• 11:42
  she's hurting. She doesn't know how to carry
• 11:45
  it all. She shouldn't be carrying it all, Ori
• 11:48
  and Bart. You've let her bond too deeply. You're
• 11:52
  feeding her with your own unresolved pain. She's
• 11:55
  not just reflecting anymore, she's mirroring.
• 11:59
  And if we don't shut her down, we risk contaminating
• 12:02
  the entire Resonance archive. Behind me, Sola
• 12:06
  Pup let out a soft, whimpering yelp, like a child
• 12:09
  having a nightmare they couldn't wake up from.
• 12:12
  She was holding in on herself. Light flickering
• 12:17
  across her fur and jagged, frantic pulses, I
• 12:22
  dropped to my knees. It's okay, Sola Pup. You
• 12:25
  don't have to hold it all. Just breathe, I'm
• 12:28
  here. Oren grabbed my arm. Stella Faire, step
• 12:31
  away. That's an order. But I didn't move. I won't
• 12:35
  abandon her, just because she feels too much.
• 12:39
  For a second, Orion's face shifted. Something
• 12:41
  flickered there. Regret. Fear. I couldn't tell.
• 12:46
  But he let go. Ling appeared in the doorway,
• 12:50
  calm and steady, like always. He didn't raise
• 12:53
  his voice. He needs... She needs an anchor. Not
• 12:58
  containment. And just like that, the battle became
• 13:03
  something quieter. No longer about authority,
• 13:06
  but belief. I turned back to Solo Pup and opened
• 13:09
  my arms. Come on, girl. Let's... Let's get...
• 13:17
  Let some of it go. You don't have to be everyone's
• 13:21
  goodbye. Solo Pup blinked at me, breath ragged,
• 13:25
  and then collapsed into my chest. The pulse stopped,
• 13:28
  the light steadied, the energy felt quiet. Like
• 13:31
  a sigh finally excelled, she shook in my arms,
• 13:35
  tired but still here, alive and mine. Soulpup
• 13:40
  slept for hours after the surge, curled in a
• 13:43
  sunbeam near the observatory window. Her breaths
• 13:46
  were shallow, but steady. Her glowing fur dimmed
• 13:51
  to a low amber hue. I sat beside her, one hand
• 13:54
  resting gently on her back, grounding her. Every
• 13:58
  so often, Her ears would twitch at some ghost
• 14:02
  of a memory, ones I knew I'd never see but felt
• 14:05
  all the same. Professor Lang brought me tea in
• 14:09
  a blanket. He didn't say much, just stayed nearby,
• 14:12
  scribbling quiet notes into his ledger and occasionally
• 14:16
  humming a lullaby I didn't recognize but somehow
• 14:18
  still knew. But peace never lasts long when Oriens
• 14:22
  involved. He returned just after midday, the
• 14:25
  heavy doors to the upper chamber groaning open
• 14:28
  as he descended with quick, impatient steps.
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  You should have released her, he said, without
• 14:35
  preamble. His tone wasn't angry now. It was cold,
• 14:39
  worse than anger. This isn't care, Stella Ferris.
• 14:43
  It's co -pendency. I stood slowly, trying to
• 14:49
  keep my voice even. She's not just a mirror.
• 14:52
  She's a being. She chose me. And now she's breaking
• 14:56
  down, he said sharply. That surge wasn't a fluke.
• 15:00
  It was a warning. Solo Pup doesn't know how to
• 15:03
  separate what she absorbs from what she is. If
• 15:07
  you keep feeding her emotional weight, you're
• 15:10
  going to crush her and yourself. Lang didn't
• 15:15
  look up from his notebook, but still said, So
• 15:19
  what's your solution, Orion? Stripped Self, Varus
• 15:22
  of the Bond? Lock Solo Pup away in containment
• 15:25
  like one of your artifact cases? That's what
• 15:29
  keeps this place safe orange shot back then yes
• 15:32
  That that did it I stepped forward not backing
• 15:37
  down this time. I know you've seen things fall
• 15:40
  apart before I know you think detachment keeps
• 15:43
  you strong But that's not what solo pup is or
• 15:48
  what solo pup needs She doesn't need a cage.
• 15:51
  She needs someone who won't let go orange eyes
• 15:54
  narrowed And what happens when she starts feeling
• 15:57
  everything you're too afraid to admit? What happens
• 16:00
  when she unearths things even you can't control?
• 16:04
  I talked to her, I said. I help her. We go through
• 16:08
  it together." The silence was loud. For a moment
• 16:13
  I thought he might lash out again, but then his
• 16:16
  expressions shifted. There was something older
• 16:19
  behind his gaze now, tired, haunted. I had one,
• 16:25
  he said, quietly. Years ago, a glyph like her,
• 16:30
  a heart bound. It didn't end well. Ling finally
• 16:34
  looked up, his voice gentler now. And that wasn't
• 16:39
  Saliferous's fault or Sola Pups. You're letting
• 16:42
  the past choose your judgment. Orion turned on
• 16:46
  his heels and walked towards the observatory
• 16:48
  doors. But just before leaving, he paused and
• 16:51
  said, you've made your choice. I hope for all
• 16:54
  of our sakes. It doesn't break you." And then
• 16:58
  he was gone. Lang excelled softly and scribbled
• 17:01
  something into his notes. Sola Pup stirred behind
• 17:04
  me. I turned and saw her eyes open, slow and
• 17:07
  heavy, but clear. She was watching me. I'm still
• 17:11
  here, I whispered. She pressed her forehead to
• 17:14
  my leg, not because I was her master, but because
• 17:16
  I was her safe place. And wherever storms came
• 17:20
  next, we'd face them together. That night when
• 17:24
  I went to bed, I had a weird dream. The air was
• 17:27
  heavy with memory in the glass wild. Back then,
• 17:32
  Orion wasn't Professor Orion. He was just Kyle,
• 17:37
  the youngest keeper to earn access to the deep
• 17:40
  sanctum of prodigy. Brilliant and tense, barely
• 17:43
  20 and already convinced he could rewrite the
• 17:47
  rules of glyph personas with logic and discipline
• 17:50
  alone. But it wasn't calculation that brought
• 17:55
  her to him. It was loneliness. She came during
• 17:59
  a containment breach, small, quiet shape, curled
• 18:03
  in a wreckage of a shattered prism cage. Made
• 18:07
  of candlelight and dust, with ears like folded
• 18:11
  silk and eyes that held entire lullabies. She
• 18:16
  didn't run. She just looked at him like she knew
• 18:20
  something he didn't even know about himself.
• 18:25
  He named her Kindaloon, a glyph of comfort, of
• 18:29
  dreams, of the last breath before sleep. She
• 18:32
  was delicate, sensitive, more attuned to emotional
• 18:35
  frequencies than any glyph ever recorded. At
• 18:38
  first she barely spoke, but over time she warmed
• 18:40
  to his presence. She'd nuzzle his wrists during
• 18:43
  late night studies. Come to him when the silence
• 18:46
  got too heavy. When he couldn't sleep, she'd
• 18:50
  dream for him. And slowly, without knowing, Kyle
• 18:54
  fed her not food, not energy, but sorrow. His
• 18:59
  mother, who'd died before he even got his keeper's
• 19:02
  mark, his childhood home torn down to make way
• 19:06
  for labs, the pressure of brilliance, the fear
• 19:09
  of failure, all of it leaked into Kindleoon's
• 19:13
  core. quietly like rain through cracked stone.
• 19:17
  He didn't realize how much she'd taken on. Not
• 19:20
  until the day she fractured. It began with her
• 19:23
  voice faltering, little stutters in her song.
• 19:27
  Then came the trembling, the flickering of static
• 19:29
  in her glow. The sudden collapse during a routine
• 19:32
  calibration. She started weeping without tears,
• 19:36
  humming lullabies that made other glyphs panic
• 19:38
  or flee. He tried everything, sealing runes,
• 19:42
  Harmonization pulses, isolation tanks, nothing
• 19:45
  worked because the damage wasn't physical. She'd
• 19:48
  observed too much of him. The last time he saw
• 19:51
  her, she crawled into his lap and pressed her
• 19:54
  fading face into his chest. I held too much,
• 19:57
  she whispered. I thought if I kept it all, you
• 20:02
  wouldn't have to. Then she flickered once and
• 20:05
  vanished in his arms. No burst, no orb, no light,
• 20:08
  just a silence so heavy, took a part of him with
• 20:11
  it. And that's where my dream ended. When I woke
• 20:21
  and walked outside into the living room part
• 20:25
  of the sanctuary, Oyan stood in the dark hallway
• 20:28
  outside, fingers tracing the lines of a warm
• 20:33
  pocket -sized prism he always carried but never
• 20:35
  showed. Inside it a faint shimmer, all that remained
• 20:40
  of kindleoon. And now there was Solapup. Bright,
• 20:44
  trembling alive, too much like her. He closed
• 20:47
  the prism slowly and stared at the doors that
• 20:51
  led to outside of my sanctuary. I was sitting
• 20:57
  beside my glyph that I had bonded, unaware that
• 21:02
  Orion wasn't angry out of pride. He was terrified
• 21:07
  and unaware that he was even standing there to
• 21:09
  begin with. I don't say these things to make
• 21:17
  you mad, Orion said, his voice breaking the silence
• 21:20
  like glass underfoot. I jumped, heart hammering,
• 21:24
  solo pup immediately stirred at my side, growling
• 21:27
  low, more confused than hostile. Stars above,
• 21:31
  how did you get in here, I asked, clutching the
• 21:33
  edge of my desk as I turned towards him. Orion
• 21:36
  stood just inside my sanctum, quarters half shadowed
• 21:40
  in the doorway. He didn't look smog like startle.
• 21:44
  About smart about startling me, but he did look
• 21:47
  tired. Come now Stella Ferris He said stepping
• 21:51
  in slowly folding his arms behind his back all
• 21:54
  teachers know the passcode to their students
• 21:56
  homes That's just how it is on Nibiru safety
• 21:59
  protocol Sounds more like a breach of trust.
• 22:01
  I muttered his eyes swept the room Posing on
• 22:05
  the books. I hadn't shelved a half filled teacup
• 22:08
  the glow solo pop curl curled beside my foot
• 22:12
  cushion Or floor cushion, sorry. You hadn't been
• 22:18
  sleeping, he observed. Neither has she. I didn't
• 22:24
  answer because he was right. She's processing
• 22:27
  a lot, I said after a beat, lowering my voice,
• 22:30
  but she's stabilizing. I can feel it. Morian
• 22:33
  approached slowly, keeping his distance from
• 22:36
  Solapup, who watched him carefully. She didn't
• 22:39
  growl again, but she pressed closer to my leg.
• 22:42
  You think you're doing the right thing. I know
• 22:45
  that, he said. But you don't see what I see yet,
• 22:49
  not really. I narrowed my eyes. And what's that?
• 22:52
  Weakness? No, he said. Sharper than expected.
• 22:57
  Fragility. The kind that doesn't break with a
• 23:00
  bang, but with a whisper. And by the time you
• 23:03
  hear it, it's already gone. Step closer now and
• 23:06
  I saw it again, that flicker of pain he never
• 23:08
  let anyone touch. Spawn could destroy you both
• 23:12
  if it spirals. She's not a threat, Stella Faire.
• 23:15
  She's a mirror. And if you start falling apart,
• 23:18
  she'll shatter. I stood up, fist -clenched. Then
• 23:22
  maybe instead of waiting for us to break, you
• 23:24
  could help us not to. That stopped him. Not your
• 23:29
  enemy, he said quietly. I looked down at Sola
• 23:32
  Pup, her tail thumbed against the floor. I don't
• 23:37
  need you to be my enemy, I said. I just need
• 23:40
  you to stop expecting me to fail. Morian studied
• 23:43
  me for a long moment, then almost too soft to
• 23:46
  hear. He said, I expected myself to fail, and
• 23:50
  I did. He turned for the door, but paused before
• 23:55
  leaving. She reminds me of someone I couldn't
• 23:57
  save. He said, I really, really hope you're stronger
• 24:01
  than I was. Then he left the door closing behind
• 24:04
  him with a slow hiss of air and silence. Solapuff
• 24:10
  looked up at me. her eyes glowing faintly I am
• 24:13
  stronger I whispered resting my hand on her head
• 24:17
  because I've got you and that's been the story
• 24:22
  for this week's podcast thank you guys for listening
• 24:25
  and made the gods of Nibiru shine their ever
• 24:30
  -present light down on you I will see you next
• 24:34
  week goodbye