It had been at least a full season since he’d lost track of Nikkal. They had been searching for the rest of their family when he sent her ahead with every intention of catching up within a day or two when he ran into Adhira. Their older sister had requested he tag along with her for a little while, and she was not one that could be denied. She had made her way off of Boreas with assurances that she would return once she had gathered the rest of her children and supporters. Gods only knew how long that would be. Achilleus had faith in her, believed in her and her way of life, but the corruption running through their lands and family had been much more far spread than they could have originally imagined.

He had washed up on a northern beach the day before, taking the night to catch his breath and dry off in the closest, warmest place he could find before setting out to search for his better half. He picked paths he thought Nikkal was likely to travel, hoping for the best with no real way of knowing where she was, or what part of the land she currently resided. The sight of glowing crystals and mushrooms, and strange fauna made him uneasy though, wondering what kind of place this was.

"Speech" || Thoughts

Nikkal laid outside her den she had made several weeks ago, her belly pressed to the chilled ground and forepaws outstretched like a sphinx as her blue eye glared down at her legs. She had woken up a few days ago with an unbearable itch and a tingling sensation crawling over her skin and then before the day had ended, small blue and green crystals were growing from her body. She, of course, immediately tried to chew off the crystals only to find that the pain was worse than anything she had ever experienced before and it left her exhausted and shaking. To her horror, the few crystals she had been able to push through and remove only grew back faster and larger. The woman spent the next few days cursing and screaming, teeth lashing out to bite whatever she could find before exhaustion took over her again. She wanted, needed to blame that strange male that threw crystals at her but in the end she knew it was her own damn fault for her current situation and not his. Though it did not stop her from wondering whether or not that male had contracted the same thing as she... the thought of it made a vindictive smile flash on her lips for a moment. Now her blue eye stared hard at a group of small crystals on her forelimbs, the other eye was fused shut with tiny green crystals growing on her lid like the scales of a lizard. She contemplated whether or not she would take another attempt at removing the crystals in hopes that this time they would vanish but the definition of insanity was doing the same thing over and over and expecting a new result. She was certainly not the most sane creature out there but she was not insane. Small chime like sounds filled the air as she lowered her head to her paws, wanting to sleep to regain some of her strength to hunt later when a scent filled the air. Nikkal did not move at first as she slowly filled her lungs with that familiar scent, daring not to hope that he had actually found her and this was not just some illusion of the disease she had caught. But as his scent grew stronger on the air, Nikkal's heart skipped a beat and she got to her paws, sapphire eyes burning with a new determination. Her paws were near silent on the path she had slowly worn into the earth during winter but the air was still filled with the small chime like clinking of her new accessories, much to her irritation. She followed her nose but it felt like she was being lead by her heart towards him and her breath caught in her throat as she caught sight of his mottled pelt. His back was turned to her and she took this moment just to drink in the sight of his large frame, relieved that he at least seemed unscathed by the disease she had caught. She took in a few more breaths before she stood up straighter, stubbornly, as her storm grey chin lifted slightly. "Achilleus....." she said her voice filling the air, sounding much stronger than she felt but loving the taste of his name on her lips. She pinned him with a hard blue eye as she waited for him to turn and face her with a pounding heart.   Walk ---- "Speak" ---- "Hear" ---- Think