[Dirge]

The days floated on by, sometimes slowly, sometimes fast. Dirge wasn't quite sure where he was anymore, the fog had burned his lungs and his legs scurried fast toward the outer rim of the territory. He wasn't sure where Gray and Cassiopeia had gone, afraid they had been taken by the deadly shroud that over took Saboro. The boy was almost certain he was alone in the world as sentries were ghosts along the border, they were no where to be seen. No howl had penetrated the eerie jungle, even the birds seemed to have gone to better places.

The hellion boy wandered then toward the mountains though never climbing. He traced along their bottoms, the scent of the sea enticing him forward as he traveled night and day through unknowns. He thought of his mother and father then, wondering if they were somewhere out here, lost and alone just like their son. He wondered about his siblings, where had they gone? Swallowed up by the mysterious mist? Lost in the unknown? The boy didn't know, and as time went on and his body became more fatigued, he didn't care. Dirge thought he was going to die alone, tears streaking across his snotty face as he thought he'd never get to see his two best friends ever again. He didn't love them enough, they would never know.

Half delirious, Dirge paused at the unfamiliar wall of Gemini, glancing up and knowing that he would not be able to make it up. It was too tall and he was not strong enough. It would have to eventually end though, right? Would this stretch forever? The boy turned and walked along its edges, minutes passing into eternity until he decided to start trotting. Trotting turned into a lope, then a canter, then a sprint.

There was no end.

A rock clipped his toe, the momentum sending Dirge head-over-heels and rolling into the dirt until he slid to a stop. Ribs stretched, breaths kicking up the dust in front of his nose. He was tired, oh so tired.

"I'm... sorry Gray... I'm... I'm so stupid... and... I couldn't... protect... you... or Cassie... and I'm gonna... die alone... in this ... stupid place." he sobbed between breaths. Dirge felt miserable enough, but he could imagine Gray getting angry at him, telling him how much of an idiot he was and how weak he was being. The boy chuckled a little before relaxing. Gray was with the princess, right? At least she had one knight with her, she wouldn't be alone.

The boy closed his eyes, letting the elements take him.

✦ ✦ Speech Text ✦ ✦

---

Dirge is visiting, he'll be leaving after a few days ic time probs.

[Traveler]

|➷| captive |➷| mover and shaker

"A man travels the world over in search of what he needs and returns home to find it."
-George A. Moore

#5C1310

Rattling skulls haunted his worst nightmares, and ever since that fateful day he had refrained from edging forward. He still didn't know much about the skulls or why they were there. He still didn't really understand Gemini, but he had met a few people, seen an old friend even in passing, Traveler was trying. At the time he wasn't sure if he was trying to assimilate to Gemini to stay, or if he was trying to assimilate to survive in the pack that nearly killed him. Brutalized him. His muscles quivered, though he wasn't sure if it was because he was traveling or because he was scared. In his head he could practically still see the blood on the ground, teeth chomping, growls and and and...

His feet gave out from under him, at some point he had tried to start running. Ghosts chasing him around Gemini, it felt caught in his throat; fear and agony. Lungs stung from pumping aggressively, he had been hyperventilating and when he finally came back too he was laying near the wall. It loomed over him, glaring down at him but this time he was on the "right side". The giant boy shook like a leaf, trembling worse than a tiny chihuahua. Drool dripped from his lips and his wounds pinged with his racing heartbeat. Traveler swallowed hard and attempted to regain himself, large paws wiggling to gain traction.

Blood seeped from every pore and he was still stuck in his head until he heard something on the other side of the wall. The other side of the wall. The other side of the wall. He was wracked with emotions, violently shaking and living in his head. The other side of the wall. The bad guys were on the other side of the wall. But not always right? Traveler had been from the other side? His head twitched and he squeezed his eyes shut tightly trying to figure out who he was. Was he Gemini? Did he fear the wall and the strangers? Or was he Traveler? Was he the boy that had done nothing wrong and been hurt? Tears streamed down his face and he staggered aggressively towards the choke point, honey eyes were not looking up to the skulls or over to his place of attack.

Instead he peeked his head around the wall and saw that someone was weakly moving along it-- he sympathized. It smelt like a stranger the closer it got and panic filled his very soul. "Hey! Hey! There's something out there! Someone! On the other side of the wall! Someone!" He practically choked his words out, screaming to anyone nearby. Alerting Gemini. But... But... But he couldn't let them maul this stranger! He hobbled weakly around the choke point as Dirge tripped and Trav came up on him as quickly as possible. The man was struggling and muttering to himself and Traveler cried looking down at his covered wounds. "Hey man, t-t-trust me, it could be worse..."

[Ahsoka]

A h s o k a

#C11B17 * profile

"Hey! Hey! There's something out there! Someone! On the other side of the wall! Someone!"

She had been acquainting herself with the territory as usual, exploring every nook and cranny. This was the furthest she had ever traveled from the tower, and already she would soon learn of life's trials and tribulations. No more child worries like a sprained foot or hurt feelings. No more little cuts and scrapes from not watching your footing. There was more beyond this land, beyond this fresh and budding life. Beyond here, there was red.

Small paws carried her over the earth, the wall rising higher as she approached. Ahsoka had been close enough to hear the call, and the panic inside it made her hackles rise. Instincts told her to run the other way, to turn tail and retreat back to the safety of the tower, curling up next to her siblings and her mother's soft stomach, where it was warm and safe. There would be no concern over the panic-stricken voice and whatever dangerous thing was associated with it. Mother wasn't here though, and as far as she knew, she was the only one who heard the call. What would that make her if she did nothing? If she did turn tail and run away, like a coward? Someone was in trouble, that was all she knew.

The wall rose up in front of her, its structure intimidating, but hardly so for the princess who called this land her home. As far as she knew, everything here was friendly and safe. Nothing could hurt her here....

Skidding to a halt, she crept into a choke point within the wall, ears perked forward as she tried to listen to any sounds on the other side. Her heart beat faster the closer she got to the entrance, the sound of sobbing greeting her ears. Her little legs trembled, fighting for control to turn her body around, but she pressed on. Peaking around the corner, she saw two figures, one hovering over another that lay sprawled on the ground, and...

...red.

Her breathing became shallow, heart pounding in her ears. The blood in her veins were flowing rivers of ice, chilling her to the bone. The edges of her vision blurred as she gazed at the red seeping from the crimson body, the black and white figure collapsed and unmoving....

"Hey man, t-t-trust me, it could be worse..."

The voice of the crimson male broke her out of her catatonia, and she shook her head to rid herself of the haze. They were both wounded and needed help. But what could she do? She didn't know how to heal. Stepping forward, she approached the two, looking up at the scarlet male."What...what happened? What's wrong with him?" Ahsoka stepped closer to the collapsed male, sniffing him curiously, yet cautious of any sudden movements. "Hello? Mister?" He didn't smell familiar. She couldn't remember ever smelling his scent in the territory before. Could he be from...out there? "What do we do?" The girl looked to the other male for guidance. He was an adult. Every adult had all the answers, right? Surely he'd know what to do?

...But he was crying over the other male. She was less familiar with seeing adults cry. It made her feel...uneasy.

Well, this wouldn't do. Looking around quickly, she noticed the wall. Turning toward it, she craned her neck to get a better view. It was so tall, she couldn't possibly...but she had to try. No one else was here yet, and it was possible no one else had heard his call. They needed a healer here pronto. Taking a deep breath, she rushed toward the base of the wall, and began her ascent.

Needless to say, it was rough. Her small body struggled to clamber up the rocks, slipping more than once and nearly giving herself a heart attack. With every jump and heave, she got closer and closer to the top, adrenaline pumping strength into her small legs. Three more leaps...two more leaps...one more leap...

...and her hind legs slipped.

There she hung, gasping in shock as her forepaws grasped and clawed at anything she could gain traction on. Hind legs scraped the side of the rock, claws digging in trying to catch and find purchase in order to propel herself upward. For a moment, she thought she would fall, rolling and tumbling all the way back to the bottom to join the monochrome body laying in a heap. This was it, this was how she would go out, trying to be a hero. How foolish. She should've just went looking for someone instead of doing this hair-brained stunt.

Suddenly, back claws snagged on the rock, and she was able to push herself up with her front legs. She heaved, pushing her small frame up and over the edge of the rock. The girl lay there panting, trying to catch her breath quickly. Time was already wasted. They needed someone, anyone, here as soon as possible. Rising to her paws, she looked out toward the vast territory of Gemini. The view alone nearly took her breath away, but now was not the time for sight-seeing. Planting herself firmly, she raised her head, and let out a howl. It was squeaky and cracky, not yet grown and filled out. She forced it out either way, throat beginning to hurt as it rattled her chest and all through her body. Her little, urgent howl rang out across the land from atop the wall. Hopefully, someone would heed her call, and wipe away the red that stained the bodies below.

ooc: ~

[Gaven]

Gaven ran towards them without considering how threatening this might be to strange wolves; he recognized the one as related to Serrate, the markings and colorations were familiar, and the pup was young. Maybe he should be concerned she was perched on the wall where she could take a nasty tumble, but she could handle a fall if it happened, and truth be told he was more concerned for the creature splayed out unresponsive on the ground. He spotted a second wolf, a ruddy thing that looked as if he had been shredded and was trussed up with bandages. As the elf rounded on the scene he propped his mask up on his forehead and shot the red one a concerned glance before turning his full attention to the dark spirit-touched beast sprawled out.

“Hey, hey! Don’t fall asleep,” Gaven panted as he dropped to his knees next to the animal. Glancing over him he couldn’t see any injuries, but he gently placed his hand on the beast and tried feeling for broken bones or swells in his body. “You picked the wrong place for an easy rest, kiddo. Is anything broken?”

When he couldn’t feel anything with careful touching he began to run his hand quickly up and down the side of the boy’s body, attempting to irritate him into wakefulness, roughly ruffling his fur. Maybe he was only exhausted, it was difficult to tell, but Gaven didn’t want to move him if he would fall apart in doing so. He didn’t even know how conscious the boy was, maybe he wouldn’t be able to get him awake, but he continued talking to him in case he could hear him. Gaven knew he wasn’t a wolf and he didn’t want to scare the kid. This was not a good situation for unwarranted panic.

“I’m going to touch your mouth, don’t bite,” Gaven warned before reaching over and lifting the boy’s lip. The gums were inky black. Unhelpful, Gaven thought, but even if he couldn’t tell much from the color they looked dry. He reached for his canteen and splashed the beast’s mouth with a bit of water. He didn’t think he would be able to get the boy to wake up enough to take water from his hand, but it was a start. “I’ve more where that came from, if you need it.”

Gaven considered picking him up the only problem was that even as a youth the animal was bigger than Gaven in every single way. He might be able to lift him, but he would never be able to walk him all the way back to the Living Tree that way and of all the individuals present to help this boy Gaven was the only one healthy or big enough to be able to do it. Even his camp was closer to the wall than the Tree was and if the boy was just exhausted he could recuperate there just as easily. He wished he had a sled with him. Dragging him would lessen the weight and Gaven could shoulder that much without the help of the other heavily injured wolf or the child. Alas, he didn’t, so he pulled his cloak off his back and wrapped it around the prone body, doing the best he could to keep him warm. He remained crouched and kneaded his hands into the stiff, sore form; trying to get circulation and warmth back into exhausted muscles. At a loss for what else to do he considered the other red wolf, the wrapped stranger, noticing his tear-stained fur.

“You should be back with the healers yourself,” Gaven muttered in genuine concern. “You don’t look well. Oh, look, now I’m sounding like my father. Thanks. I’m glad to know Gemini is singularly aging me a thousand years every single day with all its ongoing drama. Seriously, what are you doing here? You need to be resting.”