Rock Bottom

Chrysanthos didn't know what to do. He felt like he'd looked everywhere and could find no sign of his family. Desperate, he decided to take a risk and journey back to Olympia's homelands. He knew it was unwise. The lands that close to the volcano would be uninhabitable and there was no chance that Pegasus' would resettle the family in such a dangerous location. Still, something drove him that way. Pausing to cough as the ash thickened he felt movement on his back. Bolla undid the clips of the pack enough to stick her head out. "Chrysanthos, are you sure about this? It will be dangerous and I really don't think your family would have gone back yet."

"I just… I just need to see, Bolla. We have no way of knowing for sure what the lands will be like until we check it out." The lemur said nothing and instead slipped back inside his pack. She didn't know how guilty he felt about the whole thing. In some ways this was a just punishment. He'd seen the signs of impending doom and had said nothing. Ley, he hoped his foolishness had not led to the deaths of anyone he cared about. Perhaps, in some ways, that is what drove his desperation. He just had to know that everyone was alive and ok. That was really all he needed.

Chrys pushed northward, through more and more ash until he reached the Alabastrine Shrine that had once been part of Olympia's territory. The sky was dark and gray, the sun barely able to shine through the thick coat of ash in the sky. Ash covered the ground, several inches deep in some places. There were next to no signs of plant life and that meant that prey would not be present, let alone the predators that depended on them. Olympia wasn't here, he wasn't going to find anyone here. Tears started to fill his eyes from both sorrow and the toxic, smokey air. To the north east he could see the orange glow of wildfires still burning on the horizon. He was surprised there was still enough fuel to burn.

Part of him was almost tempted to go in search of the warmth of the fire. The lack of sunlight caused the air to be more frigid than he expected. Nothing in the land spoke of spring but then he supposed there wasn't anything to remind him of any season. No snow, no green, no fall colors. All was black and bleak and even as he moved closer to the shrine he realized it was covered and stained with ash. No longer were there pillars of glimmering white stone. The trees were also charred black.

Chrysanthos moved closer to the pool at the center of the shrine, craning his head over the edge to look into once was a beautiful, if eerie, pool of blue. Instead his gaze was met with some strange tarry mass of charcoal colored goop. Nothing was as it once was. He was alone. He had no family, no homeland and-

A violent cough wracked his body. He was losing his health, but still he had to press on. Surely, surely, there were survivors, all he had to do was find them. Chrysanthos turned to leave as the earth beneath his paws began to shake violently. He stumbled and felt to his stomach. Nearby, the burnt truck of a tree collapsed to the ground which began to split. Gasping he got to his feet and fled back south. There was nothing for him here but death. Twice more his paws gave out beneath him before the shaking earth finally stilled. Yes, there was no chance that he'd find another Olympian here. It was best to just stick to the more habitable lands.

As he worked his way farther south Chrysanthos found himself wondering if there was a chance that his family had gone back home. Perhaps he was the one that had he been left for dead. Flinching, Chrys brought up one of his paws that was caked now with ash. Some areas of the earth were still hot to the touch even if the air was freezing. Yes, he needed to get out of here. There was nothing more that he could do. It occurred to him what a foolish thing this was to be risking Bolla's life as well as his own. Grief was driving him mad. Tears streamed down his face as the earth began to shake once more. He was ready to wake up from this nightmare.

When he reached the river that formed the territory's southern border he was all to grateful to jump in and begin his swim across. A swim that would at least mean he was in a safer land even if danger was still present and injury still highly possible.