Heaven is a place that I can't find, and I can feel it in my bones.
09-07-2016, 06:37 PM
Molten gaze rested on his sister's face; she seemed as estranged from her surroundings as he was. The ashen 'brow dots that set above such vivid eyes lowered, narrowing his stare as he studied her features while she came up to stand beside him. They were each seven months old, and although Vadim came up to his father's chin in height he lacked the muscle mass of an older wolf, leaving him with lanky limbs and a rounded belly. It was quite an amusing sight, really. The disproportionate boy had been so focused on his sister's tension that he didn't bother to look past her before turning his head back to what was in front of him. Darkness. The sun had set long ago and twilight had faded just a few feet after they'd even entered the mine, leaving them to stand in a shroud of complete and utter darkness.
His sister's words made his black towers flick atop her head, tuning toward her as he felt her brush along his side as he occasionally bumped into her due to how close they walked forward. "It'd be wise to stick together, that is fine." He'd never really been close to any of his siblings, they'd all developed their own unique personalities and he was already leaning toward independence- but there was something about her closeness that almost felt.. comforting. That was something he hadn't even felt a smidgen of since their mother left.
Oh, that's right.. she was back now, wasn't she? Perhaps that would explain the distant look on Ash's face when they'd entered the mine. Everything was so up in the air at the moment within their little family, Greed seemed to choose to isolate himself; at least, that is what Vadim assumed considering he'd not come into contact with him quite at all since the meeting. Actually, they all kinda isolated themselves, didn't they? All the nights he'd been out exploring, not once did he look for another to invite along with him; the thought led Vadim to wonder how much of this isolation was their own doing, did Ash feel the call of independence like he did? Another bump was given as he leaned gently into his sister, though this one was partially on purpose; he would never quite vocalize the way he was feeling, but he wanted her to know that he was there beside her and that she could rely on him. At least, for now.
The sound of Pheonix's scrambling behind him was the first to trigger an alarm in Vadim's head, knowing then that the two were not alone in the mines. Someone had followed them and the sound of another ricocheted off the surrounding walls. Immediately, his heart raced within it's bony cage as his lips pulled back to unveil a fresh set of adult teeth, pristine and not yet coated with the yellow stain of old blood. The only shadow he could see at the moment was Kharnage, a colossal figure standing there silhouetted by the backdrop of fading twilight- there was no possible way for Vadim to be able to tell who it was that had followed him, so his nostrils flared and took in the scent of Ivalice. That offered only a small amount of reassurance. By now, he'd twisted his body around to face the lurking figure head on, placing himself just slightly in front of his sister to use himself as a barricade for her protection. "You got a stalker you didn't tell me about, Ash?" A slight smirk tugged at the threatening grin he'd had splitting his muzzle, his voice hushed and meant mainly for her; fear was not something that loitered in his tone, but instead he held a higher pitch of youthful excitement.
"Who's there?" His tone had changed, still boyish yet deeper than before as he called out in demand. He was silently cursing himself for not taking a better look at their surroundings before entering the mines, if they had to run.. the only way they could go was deeper into the mines and pray for there to be some sort of outlet. His head sunk a little lower at the thought of that, attempting to show the larger of them a bit of respect. They were packmates, after all, but how many within Ivalice were truly honorable?
![[Image: vadim_by_nnightcrawler-dais3pi.png]](https://orig00.deviantart.net/54c9/f/2016/267/0/0/vadim_by_nnightcrawler-dais3pi.png)