Blackfeather Woods One goes to the morgue and the other to jail

Wolfskull Cave - open to @Cassiopeia or @Vaati mostly, but anyone from BFW.

There is no telling how long he's been out but when Titmouse wakes, it is in the dark. There is a stale smell in the air that makes his stomach roll, and the sound of dripping water bouncing off of the earthen interior of the space, and it all further disorients him.

He shifts a little in the spot, curling his legs close, and it is at this point the pain from his broken leg becomes apparent - it is too intense for words, but he gasps and clenches his teeth, and tears spring to his eyes. The rolling in his gut sweeps through the rest of him and he nearly throws up, but instead everything goes dark again - he doesn't hear the dripping, doesn't smell the cavernous musk, and remains oblivious to his plight.

The second time he wakes up, Titmouse feels all the same things but remembers - acutely - not to move. The light hasn't shifted around him and he wonders (in an out-of-touch way) how long the night is going to be. How long has he been here? Where is here? Where is Raven -- ? He wants his mother, his sister, his brothers -- but every inch of the boy is filled with fear and pain, and he doesn't know what to do but sit and fester.

The bond that existed between her and Vaati was hard to explain or define, and sometimes felt so very wrong. But he was the closest thing that she had ever come to attribute to a friend, and it was obvious that he cared for her too, somehow. From him, she had heard whispers of war, and the words stirred an odd excitement and fear in her. She knew, however, that she didn't quite care if this place was destroyed. It was Vaati she worried for, the white healer-woman and her freakish pups. She didn't find herself caring about Nyx, however, the woman had left her with a bitter taste in her mouth. 

She paced towards Wolfskull, now, the place striking foreboding into her steps. From her maw swung a hare, fresh and plump, more of a guilty offering than anything else. At the entrance of the cave she paused, before striding into the darkness cooly, if not entirely confidently. Only a couple weeks ago, she had been the one waiting in the dark. Her eyes adapt quickly, the darkness of the outside not much brighter, though the falling leaves seem to have lightened the rest of the wood. 

The rabbit drops with a soft plop before the male, curled in obvious pain and discomfort. Her stomach rolls, but she tightens her resolve and pushes away her guilt. "I'm sorry." The words come easily; for she is truly shamed at what she has done and where the boy finds himself now. She waits in silence, not expecting him to say much and not entirely sure if he is currently conscience, either. She shifts her weight, ready to slip out as quickly as she came.

His face felt tight where the shadow girl's teeth had raked through the flesh, and he only noticed this when he idly tried to lick his dry lips. The taste of sour blood was overwhelming and the texture of it - mixed with blood and some leaf litter - made him want to gag and spit, but the boy's mouth was dry. At least his face didn't hurt like the rest of him. It felt as if he'd fallen down a cliff, or been dragged by an angry stag, or something - not that he had any experience with either event. Every inch of him hurt but nothing more-so than his leg, and as it seemed to scream at him ceaselessly, everything else sort of.. Fell away.

But he could hear her. That voice slipped out of nowhere, out of the dark, and he was startled enough to turn sharply and regard those same green eyes that had fooled him. He saw those eyes and froze, clenching his teeth against the fresh wave of pain that shot up his leg and rolled his stomach; then as the rabbit came in to focus (dead, bloody, fresh,) a spasm pulled red bile from his belly. One would never notice the dark patch of soil before Titmouse - it sank away quickly through the dirt - but the scent was clear enough.

As everything calmed again, the girl's apology finally registered in his head. He watched her in his periphery for a second longer, refusing to give in to the nausea, the pain of his injury, or even the fear of this unknowable entity within the dark cave - and he responded with a sharp, Fuck you. She could take her apology and her rabbit and shove it where the sun don't shine.

She smells the bile, the sharp acidic scent that has her muzzle furrow. Words came to mind, but each was dismissed almost immediately. "I didn't mean for this to happen-"  But it had, hadn't it? Hollow, empty words that sounded almost as shallow as she felt offering them. Other flashed through her mind, briefly, until his own words broke the silence and she regarded him. How odd it felt, being the wrong one, the evil one. She had gone from kidnapped to kidnapper, and her stomach turned at the thought.  

Silence stretched between them before she finally admitted, "I deserve that. I know."  She shifted, ready to flee, but to do so felt so cowardly, and she could hardly bear to be a coward again. Instead, she muttered awkwardly in the silence, her normal fiery nature flickering and dying in the face of her shame. "There's a healer. But - I think she's..."  Her gaze dropped, unsure how to explain, immediately regretting the path her stilted words had gone down. "out of reach." Silence stretched out again, and she regarded the male, her next words dying on her tongue, unsure how to truly face up to the shame before her as she hadn't felt before. For gods' sake, he was only a boy, her age.

There was silence. He was tentitavely expecting retrobution for his outburst, but nothing came. Rather there was quiet (more like disquiet for the tension that Titmouse felt within the air), and then she spoke; her voice was almost meek and Tit was a bit stunned as he listened. Yet when the shadow mentioned a healer, he was resistant again - baring his teeth (a flash) before announcing: You want to help me now? Take me home. There's -- my mum, she's a healer. The best, his voice gradually lost its gusto and Tit, without wanting to, began to plead. She can fix me... Just... fuck, just let me go. He wouldn't be able to walk out of here on his own; he could barely keep himself awake for this stupid converstation, but he had to try. If she felt this bad then there was a chance - right?

She had tensed, preparing for more anger and fire, but was met with pleas, which perhaps stung all the more. She tensed, tail lashing as she regarded him, wishing that Vaati hadn't shown up and she could have just fled and left him. The uncertainty that she would have been left with would have been better than him being here; young, not at all threatening and stuck here. "it's not that easy." She said, voice a little sharp, continuing a moment later. "if it were, I'd be long gone from here."  Her voice dropped to a mumble, thinking back to her meeting with Nyx. If it had been as easy to escape as the entitled girl had claimed, surely she'd have done so early on. Perhaps she had accepted her lot, but he didn't have to. "where is it? your home? will they-" She trailed off, unable to finish the sentence. Would they care about him, be motivated to do anything?

What she said next made absolutely no sense to the boy. It indicated that she wasn't meant to be here either; that she was a captive, or something. But it had been her teeth which had sliced his face, cracked his bones. That hadn't been in the dark wood either - it was outside of it, clearly meaning she could go wherever she damn well pleased. Titmouse couldn't fathom what she was saying - his mind couldn't make sense of it, and he was too emotional at this point to think deeply, so he just shook his head and outrightly refused her answer.

Where is it? Where was what?

Your home? Will they - Whatever she was saying, he hastily shouted back at her, I won't tell you! You can't take them! You can't hurt them too! Fuck you, you stupid bitch! But he was so obviously afraid and only drowning out her questions to save himself from saying the wrong thing. No, he couldn't tell her - he wouldn't put them in danger. If she knew, she would hunt them down and maybe take Towhee, Phox, Orca or -- or Raven --

Tit was in a panic now; he knew he couldn't move lest his limb shake and make him throw up again, but he couldn't take his eyes off of the girl, and his mind was racing with all the possibilities. Will they come for me? Of course they will! They love me! I'm their family, and they'll know when I'm -- when I don't come back -- they'll -- He was breathing rapidly now and unable to put sounds together for words, and instead fought with his own lungs to breath deeply, which didn't work. The panic set in every inch of his body while he spoke and didn't let up, making his head swim and everything go grey around him.

They would come - right? They loved him. But the more he thought of it the more it seemed a distant hope. Towhee didn't love him, Phox blamed him, nobody else even noticed he was gone - and it was so quick! He wasn't around for more than a week before he vanished again -- they'd never come. He was going to die here.

She bore his anger patiently, not flinching as he launched his tirade, though the sudden switch from pleas to screaming had her heart skip a beat. She could sense the fear in him, beneath the anger that nearly overpowered it. He couldn't not be afraid in a place like this, she had been terrified, and at the dim memory of faces in the dark and that other captive, she flinched. But his words turned to the answer she had hoped for, the one she had been uncertain of herself, before finally admitting that her pack didn't care for her; she had given them nothing to care about. 

 "good"  Cassiopeia said, sensing suddenly the overwhelming panic in the boy, and speaking lowly, a little quicker now. "if they care, if they'll come, you'll be freed. they won't risk you for a fight."  She reasoned, not knowing if it was completely true but saying it all the same. The sudden introduction of the boy had shaken her, turned things on her head, had her mind wander to things it had not to in weeks. "there was another captive, before you. she was freed." She added, not wanting the boy to dissolve completely into panic, blurting whatever reassuring things came to mind. She wanted to salvage the conversation, learn what she could quickly so that she may reason with Vaati.

He didn't want her reassurance, he didn't want to hear her voice or deal with the threat that was in front of him, around him, everywhere. But it felt like the dark of the wood had somehow gotten inside. His lungs were heavy. They were full to bursting and he couldn't take another breath, while his heart continued to pound, his head fogging. It was like the shadows were moving all around him with an eagerness, a liveliness, that was almost primal.

And through that came her voice - soothing, even if he didn't want it to be. Stating facts that he latched on to in desperation. Tiny candles of hope that flickered in the winter air, ready to be snuffed out. He held them close, felt the tiniest bit of warmth. He was still angry and afraid but Titmouse could breathe again. The mention of another captive made him pause further, hold his breath, calm, calm, calm... And the shifting shadows stopped their dance.

Freed... he mirrored. But what... what did she do? Why.. Why am I still here? He almost didnt want to know, not really.

Luckily enough, her words seem to work, and the girl stares at the boy. His question only half-registers, her mind is working on a tangent. She was like him once, new and afraid and angry. Months ago (though she does not know exactly when) she was desperate to get the hell out of the place the pale healer called only Hell. Had she so easily accepted her lot, the darkness that seems to have leeched into her after so many weeks? "I don't know." She admits, snapping back into focus suddenly as she regards him. 

"you're here because of a mistake. this wasn't meant to happen. I-" Suddenly she reels, the cave and the boy bring forth too many thoughts she doesn't want to deal with. "you should rest. eat. I need to go." She needed to think, to speak with Vaati and ponder the thoughts that banged against the malls of her mind. Already backing up, she paused once, gaze sharp on the boy. "your pack. what is it called?" Surely not Moonspear, she would have recognized the scents. Wouldn't she? She doesn't know whether to expect an answer or more anger, knowing only that it's time the left, and quickly.

Something he's said has affected her. Even in the dimness of the cavern he can tell - the hitch in her throat, the way she begins to mumble and get quiet - and he doesn't say anything. Titmouse breathes, which seems like a hard enough task already. She is fleeing from him and Tit can't help but feel a swelling pride in himself; he's fended off the monster in the dark, he's won, and now he just needs to rest.

Her final question is met with quiet at first, and then - out of some sort of kindness maybe or merely because of how exhausting this entire ordeal is - he says, Redhawk Caldera. It doesn't hold the same kind of fire as it once did.