Corsair had been out when the tremors started, and he couldn't quite discern if they were real, or if they were coming from within him. The sudden reappearance of his brothers and niece had unsettled the boy, he didn't know what to think. Why had they gone, and all at the same time? Why had the adults left his mother to suffer? Surely, they could have sent a companion with a message at least? His mane puffed as his feet continued across the shaking earth, lost to his own thoughts and that bred in collie desire to run.

Miles were eaten up under his paws, the darkness of the night lost to him. Only the cool night air burning in his lungs and his feet pounding in time with his raging heartbeat mattered. He gave himself over to the rhythm of it.

He only slowed when the blood-red moon peeked over the horizon. Breath coming in ragged pants he surveyed the hellscape laid out before him, jagged pillars reaching for the sky. Danger hung heavy in the air but he wouldn't be dissuaded. He'd never had much self-preservation instinct anyway, creeping forward on almost silent steps, he began to explore.

"speech"

Magdalene and listening were not two things that went together. Even after the sharp barking demand of her mother telling her to stay put, she had managed to slip away. Perhaps it was to look for her father. Or as a sign that she needed better mothering. Or simply wanted attention. No matter the reason, she was on her own now and boy, the world was not a safe place to be.

On the trail of a familiar scent of a man that her mother said not to go near, Mags knew she just had to follow it. Clearly he had answers to her questions. Making her way across the lands at a breakneck speed, she’s exhausted when she shows up to the spires. A gasp of awe leaves her lips and sends her tail wagging. This place was amazing!

The sight of a boy creeping along draws her attention. Using a spire to push off of and propel her toward him, Mags nearly collided with him as her paws put on the brakes and she goes somersaulting into the next nearby spire. Laying on her side with a new bruise that would hurt tomorrow, she grins over at the boy.

“Cool place, isn’t it!?” Her chipper voice matches the quick beat of her tail against the churned ground as she gets herself up to her paws.

Corsair wasn't a stranger to brightly coloured wolves, but the girl that called out to him was something else. Swallowing his heart back down into his chest where it belonged, he stared at the girl for just a moment too long before he turned his head back to survey the hellscape spread out before them. "That's one way to describe it..." he finally deigned a response, violet eyes unblinking as they took in the surrounds.

He was probably being rude, he knew Gilda would kick his ass for being... different, so he gave a half wave of his tail, still pointed at the ground as a signal that he meant his companion no harm, not really.

Shaking some of the tension from his coat, he exhaled slowly, before looking back to the colourful girl. "Corsair," he introduced himself with a blink, ever present look of concern still painted on his face. "I haven't been here before... is it... new?"

"speech"

Magdalene feels the heat of his stare. Her skin prickles as she turns to stare back awkwardly at him. "Do I got dirt or something in my fur?" She questions softly, suddenly feeling very self conscious. It wasn't like her to care, but at the same time, he was giving her a weird look...

When the wind picks up sending another wail into the air, the moment is broken and she's left blinking away the tension. A good shake of her fur helps as she's turning an ear in his direction to hear his words. "Magdalene, but please call me Mags, Maggie, Mag," she insisted, another small wave of her tail before the seriousness of their surroundings lays back down.

Letting out a thoughtful hum, she looks around. "I'm not sure. These things look old so surely they can't be new?" Mags questions, giving Corsair a glance before taking a few steps closer to the nearest spire. Truthfully, this was her first time away from home so she had no idea.

"Magdalene"

When the girl asks if she has dirt in her fur, Corsair's face heats beneath his skin and he grunts, "No! Nothin' like that!" and a grin pulls at the corner of his very serious face when she introduces herself. "M' just not used to anyone showing up that isn't one of my sisters. I'm sure they won't be far off though..." He offers as a gruff explanation before looking at the spires a little closer. She was right, they looked like they had been here for a very long time.

He allowed his dexterous paws to pass over the weather worn surface, tipped over ears falling back to stand upright as he rose onto his rear paws and took in the strange etchings on the surface. He pulled a face at the carved one on it's surface, "Check this guy out..." He allowed his head to tip, taking in the direction of the wind. "It sounds like they're screaming... why would anyone make somethin' that sounds so terrible do you reckon? Is it a warning?"

"speech"

Her attention strays to the area surrounding them when he mentions sisters. Oh, did his sisters follow him often? Is that what sisters were supposed to do? Her sisters didn't do that. They were rule followers. She wasn't. Was that bad? Was it bad that she was here? In this weird land with a red sky and super tall towers that kind of looked like dead trees. Eyes widening, Mags has a sudden realization that maybe she should go home.

"Check this guy out..." The voice pulls her back, turning to look where he's looking. Her head cants slightly, curious as to what he's talking about. Prowling forward, calling forth her dog ancestry, she creeps closer to Corsair. "Is the screaming getting louder?" Mags whispers as she comes to stop directly beside Corsair, close enough that their shoulders are touching. "Kinda sounds like my mom when she's yelling at us to come inside," she giggles, her nose and eyes wrinkling with laughter before the thought of her mom has her frowning. Had her mom noticed she'd disappeared yet?

"Magdalene"

The touch of a shoulder against his own wasn't uncommon, what was, was the sweet, smokey scent that came along with it. He wasn't going to bury his nose in her fur and inhale like a creep, no siree, but he did stiffen momentarily as he tried to pick the scents apart, side eyeing the vibrant girl, noting that like him, she wasn't quite like the other wolves. It was something to consider later, when they didn't have statues screaming in their faces.

Corsair managed a smirk when she mentioned her mother yelling at them to come inside. "Mine jus' gets a look on 'er face and yer know not ter fuck around... But she doesn' seem ter mind us wanderin..."

A turned over ear flicked as he tried to figure out if it was getting louder, or if the wind that raked through his fur was blowing stronger. "Can't tell if it's gettin' louder or if th' wind is hittin' more o' 'em." he tipped his head towards the seeming forest of stones that surrounded them. "What do yer think this is about?" he dragged a dexterous paw over the raised carvings at the base of the stone. "Do yer think it's names?"

"speech"

His own unique scent washes over her as they stand close together, but it wasn’t like her to get all weird about being around boys. He was just another wolf… wolfdog to befriend. It didn’t matter if he liked her or anything. Definitely not something that Mags held close to her chest.

Corsair’s cursing sends Mags’ eyes wide. Of course, she’d heard her own mother curse before, but anytime she had tried those naught words on her tongue, she’d received a swift bop to the back of her head. That sort of talk was for adults only! “Does she let you curse too?” Mags whispers in that too-loud whisper sort of talk that kids do. Not like they were hiding from anyone, but where they were kind of made it seem appropriate.

The next wail of wind has Magdalene looking back to the spire. “There does seem to be different sounds. Like it’s not all the same,” she comments thoughtfully, a rumble in chest revealing her nervous frustration at being so inept.

“Could be names. Could be rules. Or a story! Like the ones they tell you to scare you,” Mags grins as she too brings a paw up to place it on the cold, smooth stone beside his to feel the carvings.