[ßastion]

Must stay awake. Keep your head up.
His lungs ache, every pull of the salty air like claws down his parched throat. His cracked lips stick to his teeth, his body in anguish. Every inch of him pleads to stop, to relax and let go, but his will to survive drags him out of the fog of exhaustion just long enough to keep him above water.

Bastion has been at the mercy of the seemingly endless ocean for days. He had traveled many miles in his years of wanderlust, but he’d never gone so long without rest, food, and fresh water. By the third day his strength flagged, and the currents carried him between bursts of paddling. At nearly a week, he could hardly worry about whether he lived or died, lost as he was in delirium and fatigue.
His only release came in the fleeting moments when he slipped into unconsciousness- or insanity, he couldn’t tell. Visions would drift up through the pain and fear; images of a sleek, shadowy femme with purple eyes dancing behind his lids. He could hear her eerie howl, mingling with the wind, taunting him. He saw the faces of the young wolves he’d trained to hunt and fight, each one like a family member.

Quite abruptly, the rhythmic rise and fall of the waves is gone. Though he can hardly feel anything beyond the agony of his burning limbs, the sudden change is enough to drag a painful wretch out of him. His gut twists angrily, but he’s been empty for days, leaving him wincing and panting.
He can sense he is no longer in direct sunlight, and without lifting his head Bastion peels his stinging eyes open just enough to see the expanse of dark sand around him and the foreboding cliffs beyond.

Sleep drags at him, and he struggles to understand how he ended up here. Instinct demands that he get out of the open and away from the water. Here, he is exposed and vulnerable.
Unable to lift himself, Bastion feebly digs his hind claws into the sand and pushes his limp body up the beach as far as he can manage. After a few feet, he can go no further and finally gives in to the darkness.

[Cassandra]

Cassandra was used to waking up in strange places, her memory full of gaps and holes, her body unceremoniously crumpled somewhere, like a jacket discarded. The little gray girl was face first in the sand when she woke up. She'd apparently curled into it like a nest. She didn't remember doing that. She'd never have slept so close to the ocean. The sound of its roaring woke her and sent her scrambling to her feet, terrified and confused.

She hated the ocean. It was deep and dark and full of secrets.

She started to run, to bolt away, when she saw a figure in her peripheral far down on the beach, first struggling and then collapsing. Oh no. The waves crashed over him and against the shore with a growl. Black sand still clung to Cassandra's fur. She hesitated. (She wanted to run. The ocean had eaten her before. She feared and loathed it. It went beyond dislike. It was like a the symbol of some ancient god, repelling her from, turning her away, the body wanted to feel safe again.) 

But someone was in trouble, and she was obligated to help. The gray wolf first padded tentatively towards the stranger, then began to lope, shuffling against the grainy surface of the beach. She was still very young, a teen at best, and small. She wouldn't be able to carry him to safety alone. She arrived at his side - he was a large male, though long-suffering by the look of him. Cass didn't know what to do.

She gently reached a paw to his side, shaking him. "H-hello?" She stammered. "You shouldn't be here!" She said, finding her voice and speaking up over the din of the waves. "I mean, on the beach. We need to get you somewhere safer!" She frantically paced around him, still unsure, before raising her muzzle to the sky and letting out an eerie, breathy howl. 

Perhaps a healer would come, or someone strong enough to lift him. And they they could both leave the water's edge.

[ßastion]

With each crash of the waves, Bastion's mind is pulled deeper into the black. The aches over every part of him are dulled and slowly smothered. Even the wash of memories, the images of his old home and battle at sea, are overcome as he gives in to the exhaustion.
Whether he laid there for a few moments, or days, he couldn't tell and hardly cared.

Then a sound breaks through the swallowing void and over the white noise of the waves, a pinpoint of light drawing him out of it. A voice.. soft, young, feminine. His ears twitch, then perk when she howls. Bloodshot eyes peer open again, taking in as much of the silvery figure as he can without turning his neck. For a moment Bastion wonders if she's come to lead his spirit away, off to the Endless Meadow or whatever paradise others believed in.

His vision is nearly as blurred as his head, but he knows this one is a stranger. Then he remembers.. Strange place, vulnerable, danger! With a grimace, he drags a foreleg out from beneath himself and claws at the sand, though the effort gets him nowhere.

@Cassandra

[Razi]

「R a z i 」

I am not sure what brought me out to the coastline today, but here I was.  I had this god awful nagging feeling in my bones, pressing up against me.  It was like an itch that refused to go away and it annoyed me to no end.  I kept wanting to scratch, bite, and rip away at this feeling; but no matter what I did, it just kept coming back.  It was bad enough that the voices kept laughing at me every time I tried to rid myself of this nagging feeling.  They were generally useless, harmless little whispers; but today they were annoying little monsters biting at the edge of my mind.  Today I wanted to murder them as I had a strong feeling they were to blame for this feeling.

Whatever.

So here I was, paws mashing into the sands, edging around the rocks as I walked.  I had nothing against the ocean.  It was a beautiful view and the smell was delicious.  I liked swimming when the summer heat was at its highest.  It was refreshing and almost comforting.  Usually ocean water was the best to wade in as the salt was known to soothe the worse of aches.  Though I suppose the hot springs were far better in that department to soothe old bones, but I will stick to my oceans.  We did not really have these waters back home; but then again it was more of a forest than anything.  We had rivers and lakes.  My home was so boring..and often brought bad memories.

I shoved my ears forward and jerked my head to the side as a howl interrupted my thoughts.  I stood there listening very carefully to the message.  It sounded..urgent?  I should probably hurry, right?  I twisted my body around and bolted towards the direction the howl came from.  My pace was not as fast as I had hoped, but it was fast enough.  With quick succession I was skidding to a halt as dirt kicked up in my wake.  I turned emerald eyes to a crumbled figure near the wake of the ocean and a tiny grey timber.  Easy prey..looks delicious..  I rolled my eyes as I had to fought my instincts, pushing myself forward.  It was a struggle, but I was stronger.

I lowered my muzzle towards the male, nudging his side.  He was alive, but barely.  I snorted and looked to the grey female, presuming she was the reason I was here.  I turned my gaze back to the dire, pondering.  "Hey, you," I pawed him, "I'm gonna try to carry you, okay?  Don't bite me or you will regret it," I warned, twisting myself.  I was not big like most males of my breed, but I was not small either.  I can try to manage it..I guess..does not hurt to try right?  I shifted my weight as I tried to push myself underneath him, pushing up on all of my strength to lift him over my back.  Fuck.  "You are dead weight..fuck..ugh.."

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[Cassandra]

The timber waited for several heavy moments, silent but for the rise and fall of the stranger's breath, and the deafening crash of the ocean. The girl watched the waves cautiously, a shiver creeping up her feet and into her spine. She coughed instinctually. She felt the press of the wet weight of the air against her chest. She remembered what it had been like. At least part of what it had been like. Enough to never want to be this close again. 

"If they don't come, I'm going to have to go get them." She whispered to the incoherent wolf at her feet. "Or maybe I'll be someone who can help, if they want." She was talking more to herself than to him at this point. He didn't seem terribly aware of his surroundings. "...I don't know what to do." She whispered. "We can't stay here." The tide would rise and then they'd both be swept out again. 

Finally someone came, a big red wolf. She eyed the stranger warily, and was met with a look more hungry than helpful. Cass veered from her when she approached. She had good instincts about people and this one reminded her of someone mean. 

"Hey, you," The stranger said as she approached the dying wolf. Her words were harsh in tone, but ultimately she did what Cass had called for - helped lift him up. "I'm gonna try to carry you, okay?  Don't bite me or you will regret it." She lowered herself down, trying to maneuver the wolf onto the her back. Cassandra approached again, tentatively, but wanting to help. (Not so many people had survived a trip across the ocean. She shared that with this starving wolf. She owed him her help.) 

"You are dead weight..fuck..ugh.." The red wolf replied. The gray wolf did not answer, but tried her best to support what part of his body she could with her small frame. 

"Thank you for helping." Cassandra said, her soft voice whispy and dreamlike. "He needs to go to the healer's tree."

[ßastion]

By now, Bastion has realized his only option is to give in. He has no strength left to fight them. Any strength he does have, he should put into mending his body in hopes of fighting another day. That is, if he isn't being carried off to his demise by these strangers.
He can feel them lifting him, senses the strain his weight is causing them. He must look as miserable as he feels.

All he could tell from the second stranger is that their coat is a vibrant shade of scarlet. Her voice bounced around in his muddled skull, certainly darker than the first female's voice. Something in the red she-wolf reminded him of the female he'd escaped from. None of this helps him feel any safer, but he's given up struggling for now. He forces his eyes to take in as much of the new landscape as possible, so he doesn't end up being totally lost.

[Razi]

「R a z i 」

I felt like a mother who was carrying the dead weight of her child.  The child who was caught under the weight of a tree trunk and she was too weak to push over the log.  It was amazing how much strength one can pour into their self when it was absolutely necessary.  I was not weak by no means..and this brute was not my child and I definitely was not a mother.  I think I would make a terrible mother anyways.  What motherly influence did I have to go off of anyways to raise a child?  My last influence was pushed off a cliff..and she was definitely not mother of the year.  So, I can imagine I would not even remotely be granted that title.

I shifted my weight as the male was as settled as I could manage along my back.  I turned emerald colored eyes to meet the little wolf and nodded, "We're pack right?  It's what we do, yea?"  I gave a slight smile before grunting a thanks for her assistance in sharing a bit of the weight.  I did not expect her to assist too much as she was tiny.  The grey would not have called someone else if she would have been able to do it herself.  It was okay, not all creatures were born equal in size.  It was a good thing he was about the same weight as I as I did not think I could have managed to carry if him if he was a lot bigger.  I had seen some pretty big wolves.

I shoved my ears forward as I tried to straighten myself, half tilting my head towards the other she wolf as she had mentioned to take him to the healing.  Yep, healing tree...where the fuck was that?  I had yet to find the time to explore the entire pack lands of Gemini.  This place was really fucking huge.  It did not help that I kept getting distracted trying to socialize among the locals.  I barely lifted a paw in motion, "All right, lead the way, please," I tried my best to muster up a polite tone.  Well as polite as I could ever muster anyways.

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