[valefor]

Valefor sat quietly by the sea, golden eyes fixed on some far off point on the horizon, mind drifting to nowhere in particular. The sun was getting low in the sky and soon he would have to go back to the island where he was being held, but for now he lay quiet and still, listening to the ebb and flow of the waves. He was tired and yet sleep had abandoned him, just as his gods had. Left him to die in the land of these heathens that called themselves pirates. Or had they? The part of him that longed for home still had a strong opinion that he hadn't been abandoned. That he was being tested instead. But for what?

The white male closed his eyes and sighed. He could run himself in circles for all of eternity and he still wouldn't be any closer to a conclusion. The stress was eating him alive and he had woken nearly every night wondering if he had really died when the pirates set upon him and his gods had damned him to eternity in.... well, he wasn't sure. Hell? Somehow that sounded silly.

Golden eyes opened again to the ocean, a cool breeze ruffling the fur on his skinny form. Raccoon striped tail curled tight against his leg, ears lay back against his skull. The guard was nearby, eyes half closed, paws tucked under his chest. He seemed so certain that Valefor wouldn't run away that he had grown calmer; more relaxed. It was irritating. Valefor wasn't going to run. He was too weak. Food didn't want to stay down any more than water did. He simply couldn't injest enough to keep his energy up. It was getting to the point that he wasn't certain if he was sick with stress, or if he had contracted some sort of illness. Not that he was jumping to tell the heathens about it. They might just kill him off for being weak or for bringing sickness to their land. For now, he'd suffer in silence.

[Addereon]

speech ♚ thoughts

Adder peered through one of the holes in the cave ceiling down at the black-and-white man they'd hauled back. He was... unimpressive. To be fair, Adder had never liked that particular color combination--his father was black and white, his brother carrying their mother's reds--but, well. The man was skinny to boot. And if Adder were being honest, it looked like the slaves were either not getting fed, or something was wrong with this one.

He lay down on the lip of the opening, paws dangling over. He watches Valefor silently for a long while. He doesn't do much, but then again, there isn't very much to do in the prison.

"What did they bring you here for?" He called down to him once he was good and bored. Adder hadn't begrudge Oukoku-Kai any prisoners, and had not dragged this skinny wolf in himself. The only enemies he'd left alive in Death Valley were still there, believing in their false gods that bled and whined and failed.

They were all idiots, the lot of them. The lion had never been religious, and likely never would be, but he understood some religions. They made sense, if only from a hopeful standpoint.

To Adder, Death Valley's religion was rubbish. Gods did not walk among them, and if they did, they certainly weren't the objectively ordinary wolves from Death Valley. If there were gods, and they walked the earth, then they were the monstrous beasts he'd been exposed to in the Fringe, or the ones so large and so ancient that they were now only told of in stories.

"You gettin' sick?"

[Cider]

Cider,

Now I feel my heart beating
I feel my heart underneath my skin
And I feel my heart beating
Oh, you make me feel
Like I'm alive again

actions - “speech” - thoughts

She was wandering the lands, working as usual. It was her job to make sure they were all ok, even the Scallywags they dragged in. She'd been told by Vashe of one who was looking a bit sickly and so, she was off to find him. The Cutlass had her favored leaf basket, a few of the basics nestled within, she wasn't sure what shape this wolf would be in and she wasn't exactly thrilled to be going face to face with a Scallywag but.... She sighed softly, shaking her head. Slave or not, I can't let someone suffer and die like this, not without trying to help them first. Came her soft thoughts, paws carried the wolf toward the ocean.

Well, toward where Valefor was and Addereon too it would seem. Cider would scale the landscape to reach the lion before, her blue gaze drifted toward the wolf. She felt her heart jump to her throat, blue's going wide as she took a few steps backward. No... No, no, no, no.... Was the Green-eyed Devil here too?! Cider squeezed her eyes shut, taking in a few deep breaths to calm herself down, to get herself under control. He's just a wolf like you.... Besides, he won't try anything and if he does... You have a fuckin LION here as backup.

Cider drew in a deep breath, exhaling slowly, opening her eyes, flashing Adder a light grin as he questioned the wolf. “If he is, he won't be for too long. Cider by the by, not sure we ever properly met.” She would chatter out cheerfully as she descended soon after. Once on Valefor's level, Cider looked him over, fear lingered in her gaze, as if she were a scared child seeing a nightmare.... Oh... Oh, if the others only knew.... At least it wasn't the Green-eyed Devil, just the quiet ghostly man who had the same colors as her brother and father.

“Tell me what hurts so I can help you.” She spoke calmly, setting the basket at her paws, stepping over it as she moved closer to Valefor and eventually began walking a slow circle. “You seemed a lot bigger the last time I saw you.” If he'd been having doubts or thinking he knew her, that would probably be a bit of an eye opener.

Surprise....

The little girl you tried to kidnap as a pup wasn't so little any more, nope... She'd grown up and she now was one of the beasts here who held your life in her paws. She could poison you as easily as she could heal you. Cider moved in close, sniffing at him, lightly pushing against his neck with her nose, his ribs too. Thin... Thin, thin, thin, not eating... Why? “When did you eat last? How much did you eat? When was the last time you had water?” She narrowed her eyes in thought, walking a slow circle around him again, looking him over now that her mind was focused on work and not the nightmares.

Peppermint, ginger, purple coneflower, opium poppy, spearmint, white willow bark, chamomile, lavender, just some basics to cover as much as she could. She kinda figured he was stressed, calming his ass down would be a good thing. Seeing how thin he was worried her and while he didn't smell of vomit, she was sure he wasn't eating. Why? What had his stomach upset if it was? How ill was he or was this all just stress. Swallowing, Cider moved to lay close to Vale, playing the part of friend, for the time being, the good doctor. “I'm here to help you so the more you tell me, the more I can do.” She was being so soft and kind to him, why? She knew damn well those nightmares were going to come back and probably be worse now than when she was a little girl.

ooc: *Cue the evil laughter*

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