In Dire Straits - Forever [Return]

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Time seemed non-existent. Days passed, but he wasn't sure how many or how long he had been without food or water. Occasionally his body would give, hinting that he needed a rest despite his determination to get home. It took forever, he felt like he was in hell.

Paws halted on the borders of an old giant, the smell of sulfur still pungent and he could hardly breathe the stench. No one was here, he already knew that. They left when Gray and Sincate rose to the throne, to take up thorny crowns and to bleed for the next generation. Saboro had crumbled, and what was left they took to a far away land. Dirge had gotten himself lost in those moments, lost on purpose as he wished to find his parents. He found them, safe and sound in a land that they could finally rest. New siblings had sprouted from old love and he was happy for them, but even though he wished he could stay in the mystical lands of Gemini, his heart was with those he truly loved.

And so he turned from the jungle, looking to the mountains. There were vast lands all around, they could be anywhere, but the cold winds from the summits called to him in some strange way. He'd start there.

Forever passed and forever came again as he ventured into the tundras, careful of the thick herds of buffalo that roamed and eyed the strange creature from a distance. He was lucky to find a day old carcass with some scraps left on, munching the bones and leather until he was satisfied enough to move on. The rivers were icy, something he wasn't used to, but his thick fur helped him stay warm and as he progressed, he slowed. Laying down under a mossy log with toadstools encircling, the rains of yesterday finally revealing patchy skies. He was tired.

He was tired.

He was so... tired.

As the sky brightened, Dirge woke with a start, blue eyes shifting in their wide sockets as his heart pounded against his ribs. Where was he? The ocean, did he still hear it? No, just morning birds and the distant groans of the herd. He sighed, relieved. Still, there was no sign of them.

For another day, he wandered, climbing and trudging up the mountain sides until one of them opened up into a valley. Crystal blue water glittered against the dim sunlight, and he got lost in the beauty of it all. Curiosity was what made him move forward now as he had never seen such a pristine body of water before. It wasn't until it was lost and all the trees closed in that he paused for a moment, his nose catching something familiar.

That scent. That scent! He found them! Adrenaline pumped through him, and he nearly ran through the territory screaming, but he stood still. Excitement turned into anxiety. What if... they thought he was a traitor? What if they didn't want him anymore? He was suddenly scared and shook, muscles quivering against aching bones. After what seemed like another forever, he barked and yipped, getting louder each time as if desperate.

Please...

He whimpered and hot tears ran down his snout.

I just want to go home.

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It's not uncommon to find her always at the borders, it was her job to be stationed there, she was a sentry after all. Sorta, came with the territory. So on this fine, crisp day, Hidalgo was once again making her rounds.

All plain faced and bored, that is UNTIL!!! Those telltale barks echoed across the boreal forest. Ears perked as she followed the noise, finally finally FINALLY. She was perhaps a bit too giddy! Unfortunately for Dirge, there'd probably be others he wanted to see first, this would not be the case.

He'd be met with a stranger's face, popping her head out of the brush all wide toothy smiles and jagged/sharp angles. Amber gaze fell upon him like a hawk, and she swooped upon him just as fast. Ohohohoho, fancy lil hellion boy, kinda cute. "HEWWO! HOWDY!!!" She screamed shrilly at him in greeting, noticing the tears streaming down his face and the whimpers that followed after.

"Wooooah woah woaaaah, buddy. You okay? You crying a whoooole lot. Like c'mon dude, I haven't even done anything to you yet." Brows quirked and she tried to give him her best, reassuring smile, though it looked more sleazy than anything. "You gotta compose yourself dude, you're on the border of Saboro. Like we're supposed to be tough and shit. So like, chill with the waterworks." She sat down then, tilting her head to the side, the jovial tone of her voice matching her wide grin just as well.

"I'm Hidalgo, you have the greatest pleasure of me being your sentry today, I'll forgive you for crying, I know how hard it must be to compose one's self in the presence of an absolute snack like myself." She extended her paw as if for him to shake it, though she just shook the limb herself. "Sooooo, go on..."

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Every once and a while she would appear near their borders. Often time it was met with some unimpressed looks by border guards, but the few she’d gotten to know knew she was harmless in her presence, one of them she’d run into often knew that she was looking for someone in particular. Cassie tried not to linger long, knowing her place wasn’t where the sentries were; but her hope never for once betrayed her in thinking one day, just one day, she’d see a familiar face.

Her father, her siblings, her mother, Dirge.

So many of them left without a word, the only being her mother. Cassiopeia could tell by the look in her eyes that day that it was more of a goodbye. She was an empathic girl, one who wanted to heal and help those physically and mentally similarly to her lost father. But she knew, there was no coming back. Saboro had ripped her mother apart in ways she’d not be able to forgive either, but on the other hand… Gray needed her here. Lexa did, too, for they were all that was left.

In the corner of her eye she spotted a familiar set of coat colouration; Hidalgo. A small smile was brought to her lips as she approached, prepared to ask her if she’d seen any by the description of the many lost faces she dreamt of seeing again. However, before she even made it to the blue girl, something had caught her attention, shortly followed by Cassie’s, too. Large ears perked to the distant sound, not yet having matched the familiarity, but it was someone. And they were desperate. Perhaps injured?

The ex-princess’s little heart pound in her chest as a rush of curls flowed behind her in haste to follow Hidalgo, who had much more speed in her frame than Cassiopeia did. She could hear the girl’s eccentric greeting before she saw who it was intended for.

"HEWWO! HOWDY!!! Wooooah woah woaaaah, buddy. You okay? You crying a whoooole lot. Like c'mon dude, I haven't even done anything to you yet."

Crying?! Cassie gasped, straining herself to stride faster before managing to still maintain some grace when she burst through the same shrubbery as the sentry moments before. In that moment she felt her heart stop, Hidalgo’s voice blurred into background noise as her eyes sparkled to see Dirge in front of her. Was it truly him? Were all of those days, weeks, months of hoping finally paying off? If the girl’s face could go pale, it would’ve been white as a sheet before she managed to choke out a quiet gasp.

“D-Dirge?” Somehow managed to squeak from her mouth in contrast to Hidalgo’s rather charming banter. Cassiopeia walked closer and extended her nose to press against Dirge’s tear soaked cheek, feeling for a moment like the life had been reinstated into her soul as the reality set in that he was here. Standing in front of her. Alive! She hadn’t even realized she was shaking when she turned to Hidalgo, smiling wider than she’d done so in weeks. “Oh! Y-You found him, Hidalgo!” No shortage of credit there.

“H-He’s back! He-He… “ Cassiopeia closed her eyes for a second and tried to calm herself, inching herself closer to Dirge to give him any support or embrace he needed. “This is Dirge, he… he is Saboran. We must let him in!” Despite her want to sound more demanding, her voice remained as soft spoken as ever. “We need to tell the Sabor! Right away!” A mixture of anxiety and excitement oozed from her character as she moved back to look at Dirge, shoving her face into his neck and trying not to start crying right there with him. “Are you hurt? Do you need anything?” Her voice quaked as she continued to reel it all in.

Her black Knight was home.

The regret was starting to mount up into his chest, and Dirge backed away shakily. His frantic barks and yelps had attracted someone, a face he didn't recognize at all. Was this the wrong place? The familiar scent of Saboran's border was unmistakable, though. Perhaps they picked up strangers as they traveled to their new home in the mountains, and Dirge tried to keep himself together as Hidalgo tried her best to do her sentry work with a crying boy. He took a deep breath, sniffing up the snot and even wiped his nose with his wrist before shaking his head. "I, um... sorry." he said, blue eyes focused on a tree just behind the blue sentry.

How was he going to explain his situation to a stranger?

Movement caught his attention, eyes now focusing on a curled dappled coat and mismatched eyes. Dirge lifted his neck in shock, forgetting Hidalgo even existed. "Cassie?" the boy muttered, eyes following as she approached him and pressed her nose against his tear stained cheek. The contact made him visibly jump as he was propelled from his trance and placed back into reality. She was here. She was right here in front of him!

The floodgates of emotions opened once more as he couldn't help but sob, pressing his face against her scruff and nuzzling his nose into those gorgeous waves. "I'm so sorry.." he said, sitting back up as she nuzzled through his neck to check for any injuries. "Nnno. I'm fine. I'm just... tired and hungry, it's cold here heh.. but I'm okay. It's been a long journey home." Dirge glanced up to Hidalgo, a little awkward that she was in the middle of a reunion she had no idea bout. "Hidalgo, was it? I'm Dirge, I.. used to be a Nightjar, before the... fall. Before Saboro moved. I was born in the jungle."

Now that he thought about it, Gray was the Sabor now, wasn't he? Ears flopped back again, his head angling down to look back at Cassie. "Is he mad at me? I wouldn't be surprised." Dirge sighed, sniffling again. The hellion boy seemed to have calmed down now, giving a slight smile.

Would he even come?

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There was another that came to the borders, one that shouldn't have been there, but eeeehhh, Hidalgo wasn't exactly a stickler for rules when it was ones she liked. Little Cassie came bounding out toward them, heart alight and eyes aglow. Hidalgo glanced at her with a raised brow and a crooked grin that would have suspected sneaky intentions, but no, the blue girl was a harmless force in all of this.

She flicked an ear at little handsome, young and cute, he'd perk up at the first sound of the other girl's voice and his own response was dipped in heavy disbelief. "Mmmmhmm!!! I sure did find this guy, didn't I, mmmm...." Hidalgo said with a sneer, not grasping the gravity of the situation, or perhaps not really caring. The little star kept caged and shackled by this taiga prison looked babbled on about letting him in and the hellion, Dirge, seemed to come more alive as well.

"Hold up! WAIT WAIT WAIT, KIDDOS!" The amber eyed female barked, her tone overall jovial still, so she wasn't exactly annoyed about how fast the conversation was going. "I'm the sentry here, I'm the one who judges if people are allowed to just come back in, even if they are filthy traitor cowards that ran away and then came back. Not saying that you're a filthy trait coward, Dirge cutie, just like an in general sorta thing, ya know?" She shot the boy and understanding look and then glanced at Cassie to see if she understood as well.

She'd begin to circle the hellion then, making a variety of hmms and mmmms, eyes narrowing at him critically and ears pulling back. It was the first time that she'd actually look like she was angry or about to attack someone, stopping short to lower her face into the young hellion's. Nose brushing his if he didn't move away, and then she'd snap her head upward, pulling back unceremoniously. "Yeah, whatever, he's safe to be let in." She'd sit back on her haunches. "It'd be easier to just call the Sabor here honestly, cutie pie there doesn't really look like he's in good shape to be walking." Head tipping back to howl in urgency that echoed across the pined forest, and then silence.

The blue female would quirk a brow at the two youths, her crooked smile peeling upwards and that familiar gleam in her eyes seemed brighter. "So like, are you two going steady? Like little buds of romance blossoming over the forest? Or am I just like totally projecting cause you two look cute together, which could be possible."

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G R A Y

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He’d spent plenty of time alone as the faithful guard dog of Saboro. Hours upon hours were wasted traversing a lonely border; and yet, he had never complained. These days, however, silence was something to be feared. Nothing had ever attacked him as relentlessly as the thoughts and fears brought upon by his own self. They bled into his dreams and afflicted his every day course of action.

Cassie alone was what had kept him grounded. Perhaps his sanity would have floated away by now, if it had not been for her. The worries of a King and a lost boy, suddenly without family or ally, suddenly one loved one less, suddenly at the top of a mountain he’d never hoped to climb; these thoughts rumbled, constantly, in the crumbling, dark space of his mind. Never had Gray known emotion before beyond himself. Beyond anger, beyond what concerned him. It was almost too much.

A heavy exhale through his nose, and he moved to heed the summons of Hidalgo; a bright, ambitious woman, though he failed miserably to match any of her typical enthusiasm.

What he saw when he arrived seemed to bring time itself to a standstill. For a moment he dared not breathe, good eye locked with a fierce intensity upon the devil tailed trouble maker. And oh, had he made trouble this time.

“.. Dirge.”

The muscles in his chest tightened, unwilling and unable to look away, but somehow almost afraid to move any closer. As though if he did, Dirge might vanish; they might all go up in smoke and he’d be left alone, once again.“Where have you been?” he managed, finally; jaw taut as he struggled to bite back the emotion that was beginning to bring animation back to his body.

Seeing Dirge cry was weird. It was unpleasant. He didn’t like it.

“Stop.”

As though the man had any choice. As though emotions wouldn’t do as they pleased, regardless of an individual’s wants or intentions. “Don’t… cry.” A shade softer, perhaps an attempt to console, but it was awkward and stiff and Gray was nearly suffocating underneath the weight of it all.

The King looked upon his lover with eyes that had a million things to say, and yet none were spoken. His attention lingered onto Cassie, and then Hidalgo. “Bring him,” a quiet order as he turned away from the scene. So much needed to be said, to be shared. But here and now was not the time or place.

_____

It was a challenge not to open the floodgates of tears alongside him. Instead her slightly shorter, willowy frame tried to allow for the stability and comfort he needed, swallowing hard and distantly channelling the Sabor for Dirge’s return. Cassiopeia eventually had turned her head to glance at Hidalgo, wanting to look apologetic for her firm orders that she truly had no authority to give. The jovial, teasing woman’s words filtered through one ear and out the other until she heard the ones of approval she was looking for.

"Yeah, whatever, he's safe to be let in."

A large smile pulled across the emotionally distressed, but relieved, girl as she nodded to the sentry. “Thank you.” Exhaling deeply she glanced at Dirge, noticing his shift in emotion and the question that followed.

"Is he mad at me? I wouldn't be surprised."

Cassiopeia was ready to prepare and answer, glancing over at Hidalgo when she started to mention something about going steady. Her face suddenly went hot and she felt strained to answer both questions, unsure as to what to say to either. She felt overwhelmed in an instant. In that moment she’d hoped for Gray to arrive and relieve her from such questions, that suddenly strength in being able to stand her own managed to falter in her heart. All of her support and strength she’d been giving to Gray for months, and now Dirge, travel worn and exhausted against her. For many months in the peaceful before of Saboro they were there to keep her safe and secure, but now she felt the loving burden of doing the same for them.

In that moment she felt like it was a task beyond her ability, one that tugged at her eyes to pour out endless tears a lot more than the happiness she felt for Dirge’s return.

“.. Dirge.”

Her perception of his arrival was missed in her own weighted thoughts, but her attention snapped to see the grey figure standing there. Those dark thoughts consuming her on the spot started to thin, and her smile returned. He came.

Cassiopeia focused on not crying again while Gray addressed the situation.

She’d hoped he would approach, so Dirge could experience the loss that was his absence from the king himself. But instead he commanded orders that seemed distant, Cassiopeia knew he was feeling something unlike himself. Her two tone eyes fluttered back to Dirge, leaning back to encourage him to test his weight and recollect himself. “It’s okay,” She cooed reassuringly to whatever reaction he might have for Gray's words, preparing to follow behind the Sabor when he was ready.

“You’re home now.” With us.