He didn't want to open his eyes. The koi marked wolf's whole body ached and part of him wished that he had been consumed by the lava instead od beinf made to.retuen to the cruel waking world. His pale white fur was turned black and gray from soot marks and his new wounds were red and fleshy, pulsing with pain as if the skin was still held to flame. Hika didn't even have the strength to whimper as he suffered silently at the opening of the crypt. After all of that he had finally made it out, but at what cost?

He was alone now, Mortis had never come tomrescue him, pain was his only companion as he writhed upon the stone floor. That part of him that so desperately wanted to.give up slowly winning the war against his higher conscious. Which was only just hanging on to reality as his mind swam and raced to process what he had been throug, and what he would have to go through from now on. Maybe it was time to give up.

Nirvana had taken to a new place, a strange location that delved beneath the earth. The last time she had been here had been in passing, but under the cover of night the albino dame had returned. The spring sunlight was much too harsh for her eyes, but she greatly enjoyed the pleasant nights and the feel of the breeze across her coat. In darkness she thrived, unafraid and facing whatever may come her way. But as she descended into the cold darkness of that crypt, nothing would prepare her what she would encounter

Damp and musky, the smell of decay and mold invaded her nose. Nirvana wrinkled it in response but it would take much more for the woman to be detoured from this place. A ruin like this was a gravesite for many, and perhaps hidden valuables would lie undiscovered. Her cape brushes against a wall, collecting dust and cobwebs within it. Great, it would take a lot of preening to get the feathers back to what they should be.

Room after room is passed, her sense of time slipping away. How many minutes had gone? Or was it hours now? As she rounds another corner her nostrils flare at a new scent. Blood. The smell of singed fur and flesh. Nirvana draws closer, and she can hear the breaths of the injured. The wolf is still alive.

“Hey,” Nirvana calls to him as she gets to his side. “I’m going to help you. Just hang on, alright?” Was he still conscious?

Bittersweet that he had finally made it out of the crypt after so long only to believe that he was truly facing the end. There was no light at the end of the tunnel just a train come to finish him off. He was skinny and useless, not even wanted by the one he loved. He had been lost for too long to be worth coming back for. A lost cause that had only wasted time and effort. He should have died in that snow storm all those years ago. He and Mortis both would have been much better off.

A groan left him as he wondered how long death would take to fully succumb. Surely if he lay here wounded for lonf enough some large predator would find him and finish the job. That was about all he was good for now anyway, a meal.for something much stronger than himself. Luckily or unluckily for himself, another of his kind would be the first to find him.

Hikaru heard the pawsteps before her voice aimed to catch his attention and the man reluctantly blinked open his coal lined eyes to find her towering ivory frame pad up to him. He moaned softly, trying to warn her away but the words would not form upon his pale lips. He was at her mercy whatever she decided to do with him.

The Mendacium woman gives pause, catching sight of his eyes opening in the darkness. It is their small light, the pain she sees within them, that causes a frown. For a second Nirvana hesitates. He is suffering, and, truthfully, she has limited healing knowledge. Would it be more merciful to end his life? To end his turmoil? She is not above doing such a deed if necessary and yet... something about this stranger, and the pain he feels… it is beyond the physical pain of his injuries. His gaze speaks of a broken heart, a broken soul, barely hanging on to this realm of the living. Maybe he is hoping for death, but it will not come tonight.

Reaching for her cape, the woman pulls it over her head. He will not die here, of that she is certain. She will tend to his wounds with basic first aid, get him water and food, but first she needs to get him out of the darkness of this tomb. The consequences of her actions regarding her cape to come would be nothing compared to saving a life. And this one… something within Nirvana insists she take him. She will not allow him to simply give up and die. If he had been meant for death, she would not have found him alive.

“Going to be a bumpy ride, hun. But you're not staying here.” There is more confidence in her tone, mind made up. She moves behind him, and taking what care she can, grabs the small man’s scruff. Her hold is firm, but she does not seek to break skin as she begins to pull him onto her cape. Thankfully the feathers merely decorated the hide beneath… under him she was certain it would hold. Once he is on the cape she curls the extra length up over his body. Warmth. Comfort. That is where her mind goes. Determination flares within Nirvana as she then moves to the front of the cape where it had crossed over her chest. She takes the material in her maw, biting down on the fluff that lines it as she takes a firm grip. Here she went, and she wasn’t taking no for an answer.

"Speech," 'Thought.'

Their eyes met for a long moment, both of them debating the ethicacy of his continued existence. She was a powerful wolf towering above him, and had she the desire, could have easily ended him in that moment. Hikaru couldn't know her thoughts though, even if they were so similar to his own. He hadn't left the world yet, it would be a shame to take him out of his own volition when his heart still beat with strength in his chest. However broken it might be along with his spirit. He had never been one to truly give up no matter the circumstances.

He wasn't certain he could speak even as she made her decision and began to move upon it. Removing her cape with one fluid motion before she finally spoke. She intended to cart him away from this place. Where and how long the trip would be Hika couldn't begin to guess. Had he had his wits about him he would have rralized tbe paxk scent on her, but as he was the man remained clueless.

He made no protest as the woman easily scruffed him and shifted him over to the soft feather cape. A soft whine fell from his pale lips, one of gratitude and not of pain as she made him as comfortable as possible. A feat he would have considered impossible himself.