He was eating a meal, laughing and happy though he didn't know why. There was a feeling of completeness that he couldn't place his finger on. The evening was normal enough. He and his parents was sitting at the kitchen table eating some of his mother's stew. The food was good, a little better than normal maybe, was that why he felt so oddly pleased at this commonplace event?
Suddenly though, that sense utter contentment faded. His head felt immensely heavy, and the floor approached him with alarming speed. He cried out "Ma!" as he felt his forehead crash into the wooden floors of his childhood home...
Except what he landed his head on wasn't hard wood, but rather soft loam. He felt himself breathing heavily, and he picked his head up with a start. The halfling looked about himself bleary-eyed, at the forest, the trees, the ground, and the massive wolf.
His muddled brain took some moments to sort reality from dreams, and during the sorting, Viatrus realized he'd called "Ma" aloud in both the sleeping and waking world. He looked sheepishly at his friend.
"Uh, sorry about that Toby," he bowed his head in apology. "I meant to keep watch, I swear, but I couldn't help myself from dozing off." He laughed nervously. "Long day I guess," he set with a strained chuckle.
Viatrus did not hear his friend give a vocal answer, not one he could understand anyway, and the halfling stood up hurriedly. "Are you ready to go?" he asked with maybe just a little too much enthusiasm.