[MythicDusk]

Her heart beat in her ears as she breathed heavily, the darkness whipping her breath from her lungs, her hands pressed over her ears to drown out the heavy thud, her body twitching involuntarily and her eyes clamped shut, her knees tucked up near to her chest, she screamed silently as pain shot through her shoulder. A hand was wrenched from her ear as a dark, salvating monster stood over her, it's body made of darkness, it's eyes two glowing pits that seemed ever-moving in it's dripping face, she could feel the beat of the beast's heart through it's hand, it matched her own. A long, serpentine tail flicked into the air, scattering dark globules across the walls. She screamed silently again as she pried her eyes open to see this dark beast.

Sitting upright, screaming hoarsely, her fingernails scrabbled at the flagstones beside her sleeping bag. The fire had been reduced to a small pile of ash, which was now sent swirling towards her by a stray gust of wind. She coughed slightly as the ash streamed into her face, and she turned her head away quickly, wincing as she did so. She wiped the ash from her face and sighed, pushing her dark hair out of her face, which she had cut to shoulder-length messily. She picked up her old MP3 player hand headphones, frowning heavily as she turned it on. Only If For A Night by Florence and the Machine. Of course, it would be.

Slowly, she looked up at the entrance to the shrine, which the large, wooden doors were now slightly ajar, and she blinked soot out of her eye, laying on her side once again, pulling her knees up to her chest as she listened to the slow and sad song, burying her face into the warmth of the quilted material.

[Tori]

He didn't know quite why he had brought himself here, to this desolate place. Unlike his mother, he hated the cold. (And yes, even at twenty-one, he still lived with his mother.) The sky was bruised, and it hung so low that it seemed it would crush the mountains. The barometric pressure was quite impressive, weighing down so heavily on Addie that it seemed his eardrums would implode. He was used to the relatively flat land in his part of Lambastia.

The entrance was more immense than he had imagined, but it emanated a comforting warmth from all of the candles just inside of the shrine. When he had entered, it was almost warm enough that he could remove his jacket, but he decided against it. This place gave him the creeps, and for some reason he had the mentality that if he kept his jacket on, it would protect him from whatever might attack him as if it were armour. He quickly buried his hands in the deep pockets, seeking more warmth.

As he wandered through the cavernous tunnels, he could faintly hear a ticking sound. He stopped walking abruptly, listening to the buzzing silence until he could hear it again. This wasn't ticking, but a beat. He slowly walked, careful not to make a sound, in the direction of the noise. Slowly, he could hear breathing. With a furrowed brow, he finally came into view of the origin of the sound. "Shy?"

[139]

[MythicDusk]

'Lay me down,
Let the only sound,
Be the overflow,
Pockets full of stones...'

She glanced up, her multi-colored eyes taking in the full view of the male before her, her ash-streaked face and messily pushed back hair gave her a look of being in this place for months, and from the amount of ash on the old fire, and the empty tins of food around her, it looked like she certainly had. She even had a small washing line with drying washing just behind her. Slowly, she sat up, wiping the worst of the ash from her face. "Hey." She said simply, glancing away from him. how long had it been since they last saw each other? Months? Years? She couldn't even remember the passing of time.

She pushed the sleeping bag off herself, her dark and somewhat grubby shirt clinging to her form, as were her old and worn jeans, her trusty hoodie laying off to a side, scrunched up into a ball, obviously also in need of a wash. Quietly she picked up a tin bucket and pulled it closer, picking up some firewood near her small campsite, and she began to strike up a fire on the old layers of ash, her brow furrowed in concentration.

[Tori]

Addie knelt beside her, sitting with his back against the wall. He sat in silence, watching her work. There wasn't a need for words. Words were empty right now. Instead, he watched her intently, his gaze tracing the lines of her face. She was still just as beautiful as he remembered.

He sighed gently, just happy he had found her again. Perhaps this was why his wings had brought him to this place. It seemed no matter how many times she disappeared, he would always find her.

[140, Level up]

[MythicDusk]

Shy silently picked up the tin bucket once the fire had been lit, and she padded outside for a moment, quickly returning with a bucket full of snow, and she placed it beside the fire. "It'll melt the snow and I can make you something to drink, you must of come from far away." He accent had gone. her voice was monotone and dull, as were her eyes, and nearly everything about her, come to think of it. She was as dull as the ash that adorned her. She watched as the snow melted, and she sat back down on her sleeping bag, pulling her knees up to her chest. Why wasn't it working? Why couldn't she control herself? And why were these nightmares plaguing her?

[Tori]

He cleared his throat nervously. "Yeah, I did. Flew most of the way here," he said quietly. "Feels nice to be in my human form." His lame attempt at conversation was more to calm himself than to initiate small talk. Yet again, something was tormenting her, but this time, it seemed different.

"What have you been doing out here?" he asked gently.

[141]

[MythicDusk]

Shyzuzie shrugged lightly, turning away from him slightly. "Trying to control myself, I guess." She watched as the water melted and she dipped a finger in, finding it to be warm, slowly coming to the boil, she moved it away from the flames and picked up one of the only clean mugs she had, and she scooped up the water out of the bucket, into the cup and then dropped in a tea bag, placing it beside Addie for him to do as he pleased. She then picked up the balled-up hoodie and dipped it into the warm water, attempting to scrub out the stains with what limited resources she had.

[Tori]

Addie gently wrapped his finger around the string connected to the bag and dipped it languorously in the water. "You seemed to be doing pretty well before you left. What changed?" he asked, his eyes fixed on the quickly darkening liquid. A few drops rolled down one side, as he wasn't really paying attention to what he was doing. Thousands of questions were running through his head, and they all started with why. But he didn't want to scare her away again.

[142]

[MythicDusk]

"Everything." Shy sighed, leaning back slightly, she picked the now cleaned hoodie out of the now murky water, and she hung it up behind her bed on the line, then tipped out the dirty water, going to the entrance and returning with another bucket full of snow, placing it beside the fire once again. "I started getting nightmares. There was this giant, horrible monster made out of darkness, and when it opened it's mouth, it screamed an unholy scream that almost wrenched my heart out of my chest. It's eyes would move around it's face, and it would drip darkness that would come crawling towards me, and no matter if I fought or if I lay down and took it, it would just hit me, over and over..." She paused from her wide-eyed and frantic ramblings, hugging herself, and she slowly turned to Addie with a pale face and her breath rasping through her clenched teeth. Her eyes sunken and she breathed heavily. "You aren't meant to feel pain in your dreams, are you?"

[Tori]

He didn't know what to say to her. There was nothing he could say. True, you weren't supposed to feel pain in dreams, but he had as well. Many, many times.

He pulled her into a gentle hug, burying his face in her shoulder. He knew she'd probably push him away. Oh, how he wished he could make all this go away, how he dreamed he could make her happy. He just wanted to slay her tormenting demons and bring her back home. However, he knew he couldn't.There was nothing he could do to help her. He knew he was probably wasting his time, but to him, she was perfectly worth it.



[143]

[MythicDusk]

Closing her eyes, Shy leaned gently against him, her brow furrowed as she bit back the tears and a new song struck up it's chords.

'Show me how to lie,
You're getting better all the time,
And turning all against one,
Is an art that's hard to teach...'

Sighing softly, Shy slowly opened her ever-changing eyes and watched the flames flicker towards the roof. the warmth that flared from them was comforting, and she couldn't help but smile softly. "Hey, Addie?"  She asked, looking up at him for a second, then glancing away again, almost too shy to look at him fully. "Would you, uh..." She furrowed her brow slightly. Her mouth was dry and it felt like her throat had closed up, not wanting her to speak. She cleared her throat. "Would  you be willing to stay here, with me for a while?" She almost immediately regretted speaking those words. Knowing the answer already, and she prepared herself for the blow to the chest that his resounding 'No' would give.

[Tori]

He held her to his chest, sighing gently at the doubt in her voice. Didn't she know him well enough by now? "I'll stay as long as you need me, Shy," he said, and he meant it. He didn't know how long he'd end up staying, but it didn't matter. As long as he was with her, he was happy.

[144]

[MythicDusk]

Shy couldn't help bug give a weak smile as she slid her hand under his jacket, resting her ear against his chest and reveling in the warmth he offered. The small pocket of air between his torso and jacket comforted her as she took in a deep gasp of air, infected with his scent, and for the first time in quite a while, she smiled, fully and honestly, she nuzzled her face further into his chest, not saying a word, but smiling nonetheless.

[Tori]

He closed his eyes and held her to his chest, planting a gentle kiss on the top of her head as he stroked her hair.

He had missed her badly-- when she left the last time, he wasn't all there. All he could think about was if she was in trouble, or if she was in danger, and all he wanted to do was go after her. He convinced himself that he was overreacting, and that she would be back when she was ready. However, when days turned into weeks, and his waiting was found to be useless, he knew he'd have to find her.

"Shy, can you promise me something?" he asked quietly.

[145; Level up.]

[MythicDusk]

Shy slowly pulled away, looking up at him, her brow furrowed slightly. "Depends on what it is." She stated simply, pulling away from him fully and going back to her chores, the most current being making a noose-like trap to catch her next meal. She had gone through her provisions rather quickly, and the next supply run wasn't going to be done in quite a few weeks. It was lucky she enjoyed watching survival shows so much.