[ToxxicRenegadeAngel]

The silence didn't last. Twice Iilanthys awoke, gasping for air, choking on a scream he couldn't release. He felt like he was underwater again, but this time there was nothing to save him, nothing to make the thing release him, and he had watched the surface get further and further away as he was pulled down into the cold, dark depths of the ocean.

[ToxxicRenegadeAngel]

The second time he awoke, sweating and screaming and gasping for air, he couldn't help himself any longer and broke down, weeping bitterly into the jumper he used as a pillow. He felt very alone, and haunted by the loss of the Doctor and his brother, and so very guilty for having survived intact whilst they were lost.

[ToxxicRenegadeAngel]

Grey circles surrounded his eyes, meeting the grey dawn that greeted him through the tiny one-pane window in the wall, and he yawned and rubbed his face as he sat up in the hammock. Though he had tried to doze after calming down, true sleep had continued to elude him and he felt worse than he had in weeks.

[ToxxicRenegadeAngel]

He dragged himself out of the hammock and to the bathroom, shivering as he relieved himself, showered and cleaned his teeth, and scuttled back into the room to pull his clothes on. He ventured downstairs and out of the door, searching for somewhere with good, cheap breakfast and strong coffee to help him start the day.

[ToxxicRenegadeAngel]

Six months. It had taken Iilanthys six months, but the tattoos were finally finished. Iilanthys hardly recognised himself as he looked into the mirror, a green skull in place of his brown fur staring back at him. He had finally secured a place on a ship, and this was his last morning in port, departing later that afternoon.

[ToxxicRenegadeAngel]

His things were packed, his pack and cost testing in his hammock as he tidied the room, ready for the next unfortunate soul who would reside there. The rent was paid up, the landlady stiffly reminding him to be out by ten o'clock, and Iilanthys dressed himself for what he could only consider the first step forward.

[ToxxicRenegadeAngel]

Finally, though it seemed like in no time at all, he was walking out the door, locking it behind him and dropping the key in to the landlady who sniffed at him as he left with a scowl on her face. He passed by the care where he had often gotten breakfast, wdad and closed on this rainy morning, and headed towards the hospital to collect his fitness certificate.

[ToxxicRenegadeAngel]

He bid the Doctor and nurses farewell once again, and put a donation into the jar for the less fortunate, as he left the hospital. He breathed in the salty sea air, and turned into the now-familiar alleyway he had walked down in desperation all those many months ago, when life was bleak and new and lonely.

[ToxxicRenegadeAngel]

He passed under the familiar sign, it's peeling paint welcoming him in like an old friend, so unlike the feeling he'd had when he first caught sight of the place. The darkness now felt welcoming, the dingy shop a haven to which he had fled, the studio behind the counter his cocoon from which he had emerged, transformed.

[ToxxicRenegadeAngel]

The grizzled old man still sat behind the counter, his ever-present cigarette dangling from between his lips, though Iilanthys knew now that they were pulled into a smile behind the grey and white beard. The eyes in his wrinkled face twinkled as he took in Iilanthys and his pack, as if memories of long-past adventures lay beneath their surface.

[ToxxicRenegadeAngel]

'Yet off then" he said, raising an eyebrow and puffing out grey smoke. "Off to do yerself  a mischief, an' give me more work to do." His tone was gruff, but Iilanthys merely grinned, now so used to the old man and his rough ways to know the affection and approval that lay behind his words.

[ToxxicRenegadeAngel]

"We sail this evening" he replied, sniffing the familiar smoke as it curled around him and burned in his lungs. "Six months at sea, with a chance of an extension of we find what we're looking for."

He turned his head, looking idly at the pictures which littered the walls around him, so familiar now that he could picture them when he closed his eyes.

[ToxxicRenegadeAngel]

The old man tilted his head, and raised his eyebrow. "An' what exactly is it yer after this time?" His tone was casual, but Iilanthys had learned a little of the old man and his past, enough to know he missed the excitement and adventure which could only be found aboard a vessel bound for uncharted waters and treasures unknown.

[ToxxicRenegadeAngel]

Iilanthys smirked, and brought his gaze back to the old man. "The ship is chartered to search for a wreck that went down in the middle of the Re'whister Ocean, so officially that's what we're after, but there are rumours that what took it down was a statue at low tide, so unofficially we're looking for a lost cache of treasures which may be older than the wreck itself."

[ToxxicRenegadeAngel]

The old man threw back his head and laughed loudly, ash spilling down into his lap. "High seas an' buried treasure - yer off to an adventure, Sonny, that's get sure."

Iilanthys smiled, and reached over to shake the old man's outstretched hand, over the counter.

"Here's certainly hoping so." He drew his hand back, and rubbed the back of his head.