He'd been avoiding it for so long... his dad, the new woman, his brother and sister... He'd traveled between Boreas and Auster restlessly, unsure of where to settle. When would this mental torment and anguish end? He had grown up in the North in Boreas with his siblings, in a pack he'd grown to recognize; how was he expected to just leave Ivalice, relocate and adjust to a new "mother" and the siblings that would come with that? Unable to deal with all of the changes, on top of the anger harbored within his heart over his real mother, and his bloody fight with his brother, Ramsay had not spoken to anyone in ages. Today was no different as he wandered into the darkness of a strange cave, numb to any rational fear of getting lost in the dark, twisting tunnels. Instead, he entered recklessly without a second thought, caring little for what happened, or whether he ever came out of these caves again. His ebony-tipped tail flicked behind him, black-rimmed ears forward as he pressed into the darkness, his nostrils filling with a strange but enticing scent, like grass and herbs - why he was drawn to a scent right now was beyond him, but it was appealing nonetheless. He just hoped he'd be able to enjoy it alone, and not be troubled by anyone else coming along.

Speech

Vadim Armada

I tried to sell my soul last night. Funny, he wouldn't even take a bite.

He didn't really wander too far after the battle for Celestial, but he had the same instinctive reluctance to avoid the new pack called Talis, as well as Liar and the new pups. He would check in on them soon, he imagined, but the vacation away from it all had been quite nice.

The ashen child was barely a child anymore, it seemed. They all had grown considerably over the winter and with spring coming in, the mountainous wolf's thick hide was in a ghastly looking shed that only added on to the girth of his frame. The corners of his pouty lips and the white of his muzzle seemed to have a constant smear of pink through-out the first thawing of the ground for spring. He was thoroughly enjoying the new prey life, and the old, this season..

As he came across the caves, he'd been in the mindset of tracking already... using his senses to seek out any thing else that might fail to escape him in a game of cat and mouse. He didn't want to admit the slight perk of enjoyment he got from the hunt, and how that effected his evident gluttony - not after his lesson with Amalia, but he couldn't stop his indulgences none the less. He was scouting the outside for any trail of something that might have entered the caves recently for shelter. There were plenty of old tracks, but he needed something fresh that hopefully wouldn't have a scent that got lost the further he went in any of them. He honestly had no idea where he was, what this place was called or who it belonged to.. but the scent that he soon found flagging the area was that of his brother, Ramsay.

He didn't know what to think, but his limbs began to move in the direction of the tracks left behind almost immediately. It seemed he was driven instinctively to find his kin, regardless of the confusion creating a storm of confusion within his skull. It wasn't long before his world had become very... very... dark, but he could sense the closeness of Ramsay so strongly that he felt his hackles begin to prickly along the line of his spine. He blinked his eyes a few times, widening them to their limits as he searched for shapes in the shadows. "Ramsay? That you?"

ooc:// oops sorry, I didn't see that you wanted it to be a stranger until after I made this post. ;3;

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As his paws gently caressed the strongly scented grasses on the cave floor, Ramsay began to feel a funny haze come over him. At first it seemed barely noticeable, and he thought perhaps he was merely becoming disoriented because of the darkness he was shrouded in. Then, it became more obvious. The ground under his paws felt different, but not because the texture had changed. It felt... nice, but strange. He knew it was a grassy floor, but it felt like something he'd never placed paws on before. The sound of his echoing pawsteps on the narrow cave walls became distorted, causing his brow to wrinkle. He knew the rhythm matched his every step, but it didn't sound like he was the one taking those steps. Was it because it was so dark in here? Was he that dependent upon his eyes? He tried to look around, but he really couldn't see much, adding to his growing sense of discomfort and oddity. Was any of this real? He shook his head, eyes looking to the ground as he paused in his step, trying to get his head on straight. No... this had to be some strange dream. Maybe he'd been so tired he'd just curled up at the entrance of this cave and fallen asleep. That had to be it; he was just dreaming now.

When a voice called out his name, he didn't recognize it, and the reasons were two-fold. First being, he hadn't spoken to his brother in some time, not in close quarters like this. Secondly, of course, was the bizarre haze that was messing with his senses right now. The voice sounded like nothing he'd ever heard before, like it was echoing in different tones all at once. Ramsay blinked, shaking his head again as he spun around, trying to determine where the voice had come from, but he couldn't see. Wait, was that a movement in the dark, or just his eyes fooling him? The young man wandered toward the shadowy figure, a behemoth in the dark. Normally it might cause him some worry to approach an unknown, shadowy figure of such girth, but right now he felt nothing, and he was certain he was dreaming.

"I'm Ramsay," he said suddenly, nodding his head in affirmation, inching closer to the other being, "Who's asking?" And then he bumped into the other brute, his black-striped muzzle touching the other's shoulder. Ramsay froze, his hackles rising slightly - okay, now he was a little bit worried, despite his hazy state of mind. This felt all to real, even if it didn't really feel real at all. Something inside Ramsay told him that this was not a dream. But then, who was this, and how did they know his name? With his rational mind erased, he drew his muzzle upward, his nose touching the fur of this other brute, and he drew in the scent as he did so. Wait a second... he knew that scent! At least, he thought he did, unless this was another trick playing in his mind.

"Vadim?" his voice came out with certainty, although his questioning did not seem so sure, "I think I'm... dreaming. Am I? Are you? After all, what are the chances I'd run into you here?" Not that it was impossible, but after all of his time spent alone, he found it completely implausible that someone he knew just happened to run into him in the dark, while his mind was busy playing tricks on him in a dark cave he wasn't familiar with.

Speech

Vadim Armada

I tried to sell my soul last night. Funny, he wouldn't even take a bite.

The hallucinogenics littering the caves didn't seem to effect the wolf quite as quickly as they did his brother, he still had his wit available to him but he could already see the difference in Ramsay. They hadn't seen each other for some time, they both had grown considerably.. but still, something about how fearlessly he seemed to meander toward Vadim in the dark seemed out of place. He never knew his brother to leave himself vulnerable.

He could tell Ramsay was close by the sheer stink of him as he neared his shoulder, but the nose bump had been unexpected.. something he couldn't quite see because he wasn't facing that way. He whipped his head around, and that's when everything started to make him a little dizzy. He blinked a few times, trying to adjust to the dark as his pupils dilated and focused on the silhouette of Ramsay. "It's really me, and we're not dreaming.. but.. something is off."

He could feel a sensation crawl up his spine that made his skin tingle all the way down to his toes, his sense of hearing seemed warped and even the smell of his brother had an unusual sweetness to it. Something wasn't right, but Vadim had an inkling that it was the cave. He'd been just fine before he entered, and his brother had been in here longer and seemed.. dazed. He looked back toward the way he came, though he still couldn't really see anything. Too many twists and turns drowned out the light, "Ramsay, let's go outside. I think.. the cave.." An incredibly strong cloud seemed to wrap around his head, washing away his previous thoughts and leaving him with an intense awareness of his body. He could feel the grass beneath his rugged pawpads, something he usually paid no mind to, and felt himself enjoying the feeling as he raked his nails across them. Shit, what was he talking about?

In what might have been his last moments of sobriety, the young wolf nudged his brother toward the way he'd came. Shit, that was the way he'd come right? Realizing that he was possibly getting lost should have made him frightened, but something about it seemed utterly hilarious. How could he be so silly? A chuckle started bubbling up his throat as he leaned into Ramsay, "Wow, maybe we are dreaming."

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He teetered on his paws, his ears flicking as he heard the other wolf turned toward him, a sound that was normally light, seemed staggeringly obvious in this moment. He was sure he could hear every hair on the wolf's body move, each brushing against the next one, the sound of the brute's bones clicking as he whipped around, the sound of blood flow... or was that just his own heartbeat? He stared off for a moment, wondering absent-mindedly about what he was hearing, and he had to blink hard a few times to make himself focus on the words of the other. It was then confirmed, this was indeed his brother, and in some small way, he felt a wave of relief. Had he even been worried at all? Perhaps on some subconscious level he had known he was in a precarious situation, that was, if this wolf had been a stranger, yet he hadn't really been able to control his actions. But it was Vadim after all. What was he doing here?

"We're not dreaming, but... how did you get in here?" he asked in a dazed tone, his jaw slackening as he tilted his head at his brother, barely paying attention to the words Vadim had said. He wasn't sure what sort of answer he expected from the question he'd asked - if he'd been in his right mind, it would have been very obvious that Vadim had walked into the same entrance he had. But for some reason, it seemed a very confusing concept at the moment. Ramsay closed his eyes and inhaled, smiling to himself as the grassy, herb-like scent passed through his nostrils once more. He opened his eyes again, his pupils dilating, bringing what little light there was into his eyes so he could see Vadim's shape in the dark. He squinted, his brow furrowed again as he looked at the young man, watching Vadim's thick coat move in a most unnatural way. His tall ears heard his brother's suggestion to go outside, something to do with the cave. "Because.. the cave?" he asked, then nodded without anymore thought. As he continued to stare at his brother's gray-toned fur, it began to whirl gently until it looked like fire... like gray flames were swirling from Vadim's coat. "Vadim, I think you're on fire," he squinted further, touching the areas that looked like flames, but it didn't burn, "Does it hurt?" Okay, what was going on? "Outside... yes, let's go outside," he mumbled, glancing this way and that into the darkness. Which way?

He suddenly felt a nudge, and with a sudden out of character chuckle, Ramsay went toppling over as though his brother had shoved him with force. It wasn't the case, but he'd lost his balance quite easily, his long legs tangling up in his uncoordinated state and tripping him. He rolled over and got back to his paws again, shaking himself off, only to feel his brother's weight against his side. The brute huffed and groaned against the effort of keeping his balance and supporting his heftier brother, but he grinned when he heard the warped sound of Vadim chuckling alongside him. So, now he thought they were dreaming, too? Ramsay laughed. This was simply bizarre. What were they doing? "Well, guess we're stuck together til we get outta here," he said with a chuckle, bumping his scrawny hip against his plump brother's side, "Is this the way out?" He asked, but he just kept following his stumbling pawsteps, feeling the grass between his toes. As his eyes scanned their dark surroundings, it felt like there was a glow between he and his brother, like a lantern, and he could see the walls of the cave. They flowed, the rock itself moving, as though the walls were gently inhaling, and then exhaling. Ramsay blinked, shaking his head, but he could see it clearly. The rocky walls of the tunnel were breathing. "This is the weirdest cave..." he mumbled, wondering what Vadim thought of it.

Speech

Vadim Armada

I tried to sell my soul last night. Funny, he wouldn't even take a bite.

He tried his best to hold his own weight, though there was a moment when he had to lean into Ramsay for risk of falling over. Vadim was unable to keep from chuckling, the sound echoing off the cave walls at a near constant. Every time the brute started to quiet down, he'd look to Ramsay or remember the situation they were in and he couldn't keep from laughing again. He shook his head, though it only seemed to make him dizzier as he started to walk toward the way he was facing. Luckily, it was indeed the right direction to get back to where he'd come from. "Rams, remember the time we snuck out and found those weird walls with the colors? I thought that was the weirdest thing I'd ever see, but I'm beginning to think I was wrong.."

As he walked, he inspected the way the walls of the cave seemed to warp.. it reminded him of the rippling water. With his imagination fueling his hallucinations, his eyes remained wide as he watched a school of fish swim toward him from within those walls. "Do.. you see that?" Vadim assumed they'd be stuck within the water of the walls, though he gasped as they began to leave and swim around both himself and his brother. He snapped his teeth together at one as it passed them, though it seemed that just as quick as they arrived they left. He flicked his ears and shook his head, fish didn't fly. In a brief moment of clarity, he remembered the danger they were in. His pupils must have then consumed his entire iris as he felt a rush of adrenaline. His heart began to race, though with how in tune with his body it was.. the steady beat was enough that it felt like something was inside of his chest trying to break out. He knew it was his heart but.. sheesh why was it so strong? "Let's keep walking. We need to get out of here!"

He made sure not to leave his brother behind, constantly checking on him.. it seemed every time he looked at his brother's face, it was twisted in some bizarre way that gave him an eerie feeling. He tried his best not to look at him directly just so he didn't freak himself out, but he made sure he was close. The lightheaded feeling had escalated to the point where he couldn't really tell where his legs were moving. Just as the light at the end of the tunnel started to trickle along the walls and light up their way, he tripped over his two front paws and tumbled down to the ground with an echoing 'oof'.

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A form sat off into the distance. Almost completely still, she couldn't place how long she had been here but she was tired. Seeing all these weird things after she followed Vadim secretly. It had gotten her into a mess, and when her brothers scent filled her nose. Her head snapped towards them and she scrambled to her paws. Charging for the pair with a shrill whine and wanting to cover them in licks. She refrained for the sake of the strange happening though. "Vadim where the hell did you bring us?" she choked out as she looked to Ramsay. Thank the gods that he was okay! Her ears drooped then raised again. "How do we get out?" Ash asked as she swallowed and started to look ahead. She'd seen mostly grotesque things. Spiders and the like and it was startling. Twisted figures in the night, it was scary. As she then pressed up against both her brothers, her tail wagging nervously behind her. "Talk"