Darkness.

It's all he can see or remember. Hells, that's happened more than once now, hasn't it? One moment, he's tucked away with Cricket and a few of their yearlings, hunkering down for sleep. Next moment, he's blinking up at a blood-red sky. The first time it happened, they had been taken moved away from Insomnia to land unknown to him. Now... he was back in Boreas? Ruby eyes that nearly match the sun above blink rapidly, fear encircling them as he looks around. Cricket and the pups are nowhere to be seen.

A growl rumbles in his throat as he slowly comes to stand on all four paws. His shortened deer-like tail swishes behind him, almost anxiously flicking back and forth. This place felt like home, but he had never seen such a sight before. Dirt beneath him is soft, pliable, loose as he walks slowly. Begging his heart slow so that his mind can work, he doesn't fear approaching the spire. Looking up first toward the top, Ghoul notices how they go into a point, but do they point in a specific direction? A quick glance says no.

Suddenly, where one moment there appeared to be no wind at all, it is picking up and brushing against him. Winding through the holes in the tall metal features to create a cacophony of noise. Wails almost as ghostly as his nightmares send shivers down his spine and his fur bristling. Were they making this noise for a reason? His attention turns closer to them until he notices the etched carvings closer to the bases. Had he been brought back here during this time for a reason? It was much too similar to the other occurrences for him to ignore...

GHOUL

table coding by bunni ♥

Fuck, no shortage of the kids had wandered north after the trembling night and with little thought, her steps trailed after them over the borders, a face pulled at the red sky overhead, and the strange darkness that seemed to cling in the atmosphere. It all seemed to match her mood perfectly, if she was honest.

As she got closer to the cavern, familiar scents criss-crossed over the land. It seemed many had been drawn to the area to try and figure out just what was happening, and one of those scents stood out over the others. It took a lot to drag a smirk to her lips these days, but this tipped her over the threshold... Perhaps she wasn't a wraith quite yet.

As the strange... rocks? cenotaphs? jutted from the ground, she took a moment to consider the strange etchings at their feet... the effigies carved into their faces far from peaceful. A brow quirked as she considered, drawn from her pondering by movement up ahead.

Mindless of the tension those that might still give a fuck might harbor, she closed the distance and nipped at a pale hip in familiar greeting, noting the way the earth softened under her paws. Odd.

"speech"

His eyes are drawn upward and then back down toward the ground. Something about the carving, the one with a terrified expression, felt familiar, but he couldn’t place a toe upon it. As he looked closer to the ground, something else seems to be there.

Before he can lift a paw to scratch at the dirt, a nip to his flank sends his fur bristling and ears flattening. Whirling his head around quickly with teeth bared, he’s prepared to strike when a familiar figure dissuades his temperament.

“Just as beautiful as I last saw you,” Ghoul’s silky deep tone rumbles, his nose reaching out to touch her cheek. There was something off about her though, but he couldn’t quite place it either.

“Any idea about this or are you lost too?” He questions though it has more meaning than she probably realizes. Where was everyone else that he knew? Why now? Why Deluge? Why any these spires and the carvings on them? Too many questions and not enough answers.

The whip of his head had her stance widening, she thought she even almost felt her heart move, but that would imply there was anything of it left. A reckless smile made its way to her face, softening when recognition passed his ruby gaze.

She scoffs when he calls her beautiful, she had always been a bit too rough around the edges to consider herself such, but she allows herself to lean into his touch to her cheek. She wondered if things might have been different, had she made other choices, but what was done, was done, and now all she could do was pick up the pieces.

Ghoul's question struck a chord within her and she chuckled, a little bitterly. "Sometimes I wonder if I've ever been anythin' but lost..." Her head tipped, "but I never been 'ere before..."

She looked at the stone spires more closely, trying to discern the markings, what they might mean. The soft soil seems to relate directly to the position of the stones and she turns her eyes upwards, trying to recall the position of the stars in this part of the land.... "No stars last night... no light." It won't come to her, the familiar map of the skies, no matter how hard she tries to recall it. It almost seems as if this is a place... between places.

"Do y'reckon there's something ter eat under 'ere?" The only similar sight she had seen was a bear cache, where the giant beast had buried what was left of a moose. This wasn't as big, but it didn't stop her digging with a little more enthusiasm than was probably wise. Everyone kept telling her she needed to eat more...

"speech"

Her reply has memories of their first encounter rushing back to him. If he were being honest, he would agree that she probably had always been lost. But he wouldn't comment on it for now. They could chat later once whatever they were experiencing was over. Giving her a lopsided smirk, one that said he understood what she meant, he turns back to the spires.

"No light at all?" Ghoul's hushed voice has a tingle of worry in it. If he hadn't appeared in the middle of the spires in such a peculiar way, he'd probably have a better understanding of what she meant, but honestly, all he could think about were the previous instances. The too big moon, the fireflies in the cloak, the statues, the wavering place between here and the other side. Was this related to that at all?

Deluge's question has his ruby gaze drawing down from the sky toward the ground. Watching her begin to dig with unexpected fervor, he hangs back. Breaking bones was not on his agenda this time... "My guess is you'll find dead bodies sooner than food," Ghoul comments, eyes narrowing as he watches to see if she finds anything.

GHOUL

table coding by bunni ♥

Deluge tried to brush off the worry. Sure, it was weird, but that didn't mean a monster was lurking beneath the surface waiting to rise up and eat them for... was it almost lunch time? Did it matter? "Yer tellin' me carrion is beneath yer?" She paused her digging to look at him with a lifted brow, her lip quirking in the ghost of a smirk.

Digging didn't seem to yield anything of interest, so she walked into the spires a little further, flicking her ears against her skull to chase away some of the ringing that came with the ceaselessly screaming wind.

She used her paw to dust some soil off the bottom of one of the spires. "Do yer think it says somethin'? I never seen anythin' like it before..." Perhaps this was more up her mother's alley than hers.

"speech"

Ghoul sees her smirk and fights to rolls his eyes in response. His lips remain shut, too focused on her digging to really reply. As far as he knew, some wolves did bury their dead. It was possible other animals did too. Surely no one was stupid enough to hide their food near these towers. Were they? Skeptical as ever, he stares at them a bit longer before following her through the maze of spires.

His mind kept wandering in several different directions, always pulled back when Deluge would speak up. It's not until she's back at another spire does he shake his fur to release built up tension. Looking to where she's dusted off some soil at the bottom, he steps up close beside her for a better look. The markings don't make sense to him, but they might to someone else. "I think it does, but not sure what," he says calmly, ruby gaze inspecting the etchings even more to see if he can find anything familiar.

GHOUL

table coding by bunni ♥

Deluge allowed her paws to wander over the markings considering. That one kinda looked like... an arrow? Maybe it was nothing, but she tapped the marking and then moved to the next stone. Nothing. But there was a loose patch of soil between the two. She strode back to the original stone, "Does this look like an arrow ter you?"

Moving back to the loose soil she started digging again, in the hopes that eventually something would show up, even if it was a buried stick or something, by her mother's god, she was getting that curiousity itch that wouldn't be sated until she got to the bottom of this! She tipped her head to the other stone, "Double check fer me there isn't another one over there would'ya?"

"speech"

Ghoul notices her moving around for a moment, inspecting something nearby. His eyes are still trained on the etchings trying to make them make sense. Was he looking too close? What if it was a bigger picture? The idea struck him as Deluge asked if it looked like an arrow etched into the spire. "Mm, it does," he agrees, his eyes moving toward the direction the arrow was pointing in. What he saw was Deluge digging fervently in the loose dirt. Had she found anything?

Listening dutifully when she requests he checks the other stone, he wastes no time. Striding over the ground with a long stride, it doesn't take him but a few seconds. Noticing the change in texture of the dirt, Ghoul looks around once more before examining the spire. At first, it seems there's no arrows. Until he goes around to the far side and there in the metal is an arrow etched pointing downward. Turning his gaze to the dirt at his paws, he doesn't wait to start digging.

GHOUL

table coding by bunni ♥