Blackfeather Woods pulling me underneath

Snow melted beneath her paws as she made her way towards Titmouse, breath coming fast and heart pounding through her. It was as if the very heat of her fervour melted the snow beneath her before her paws even hit the ground, and her mind whirled. She moved surely towards Wolfskull, though her ears were pressed against her skull and her thought chaotic. 

 leave. The words echoed, and though she was sure there had been more the shadow had heard only the one clearly. Something was coming, and she was to go. She worried for Vaati, the only thing that bond her here, and did not understand why he gave her this heavy freedom. No doubt she would have wondered more, but her actions were made with frenzied directness and quite suddenly Wolfskull loomed before her. She did not hesitate before plunging into the darkness, gaze seeking out the boy. "wake up"  She hissed beneath her breath, prodding the lump which she assumed to be the boy, though his current state (as either conscious or not) she did not know.

She had made her decision sometime in those long night hours, and her meeting with Vaati had been the catalyst for her actions, and now she sought only to complete what she had promised to do as quickly as possible. "we're leaving. now."  She said, though the words came out oddly steady, the hitch in her breath betrayed her rattled state.

@Titmouse

The snow had taken over every inch of the Caldera, while flurry after flurry adding endless layers and obscuring the trees. The lake at the center was frozen, he could see it - thin near the edge, thick in the middle. A flock of tiny birds moved like a cloud through the sky in unison; there is a straggler, and Tit finds it easily, like his entire conciousness is drawn to it. He hears a screech suddenly and turns his head, and his gaze is met by Raven -- Towhee -- running towards him, a flash of orange-gold, another scream -- and when he looks back to the flock and the tiny straggler, his brain concocts an image of a giant bird with black feathers, the titmouse between its talons --  Wake up.

Startled by the voice and eager to escape his strange dream, Titmouse does not need much prompting. He shakes awake and lurches, sitting up and inadvertently pressing against Cassiopeia's nearby body. She hisses more words to him and he doesn't understand at first, but she pressures him to get up and to move, so he scrambles to do that. Whats -- what's happening? The dream is taking time to fade, but he is awake and trying - but confused, afraid, and not exactly keen to follow her lead.

She doesn't pay attention to the way he draws near to her, too wrapped up in her thoughts. He wakes quickly, and through a series of ungraceful moves she can hardly see, gains his paws. His question has her echo her words, this time slower and steadier. "we're leaving. I assume you know the way back to your caldera?"  Her gaze is bright in the darkness of the cavern, her tail lashing still. At a standstill, she slowly, gradually calms, and her tail slows to a stop behind her.

He doesn't want to trust her but the hope that he's going home is to strong to ignore. He nods sleepily to her question, hobbles alongside her to the cave entrance, and then pauses. Wait -- wait -- how do I know this isn't a trick? Why am I being set free? Titmouse was a moving target for any of these crazy wolves, and to leave the cave would only give them the reason they need to tear him apart. He was still injured - he'd be slow, an easy kill. Tit wasn't about to be fooled. The dark of the cave shadowed him still, and he watched her carefully, although there was nothing he could do to really stop her from dragging him along.

They made it all the way to the cave entrance before the boy paused, voicing his doubts Cassiopeia huffed exasperatedly and turned on her heel, knowing that she didn't have the strength to drag a thrashing boy through the woods unnoticed, and reasoning with him seemed better than threatening him along. "I've been -" Here she paused, for while the words told to leave seemed accurate, she knew that Vaati had freed her from the woods and all its darkness.  "freed. and I'm not leaving you here to rot, so I'm taking you home." 

What came after her task had been completed was murky, and she didn't feel particularly inclined to think about it. Her gaze fell on him, asking bluntly, is that enough? 

He waited for an explanation and didn't know how deeply her words would cut. It was short and sweet, but made something click in his head - the older captive. It had been her? And she was still here, perpetuating everything evil that the white wolf represented? Titmouse didn't think of these things with such language, rather, he realized each tidbit swiftly and felt the air leave him.

Oh -- oh kay, he murmured, and then took a stride out of the deep-dark, in to the snowbright forest. He didn't go far before he stopped again though, almost like he was resisting again - but he leaned against her. You... you should come with me.

Good gods, they were stopped again. His agreement had led to the progressing only a few steps before he stopped, and yet instead of more protesting, he leaned against her. She did not shy away, assuming his nasty-looking leg injury slowed him, and twisted again to face him when he made his proposition. Her brow wrinkled, incredulous, and while a moment passed in which she considered it, her words were quick to point out the obvious fault in that plan. "I'll take you there. but I attacked you - I hardly think you, or they will want me around." She shifted forward, hoping to propel the boy into slow movement, disliking extremely the possibility of running into someone like Ganondorf.

She made good points but Titmouse was unreasonable and really fucking stubborn. He heard her out and then, without so much as a pause, cut her off. I'll explain to them. I'll tell them -- something -- I don't know. Then she was making him shuffle forwards, so he followed her lead for a few more feet but nothing could stop him once he was focused, and this was important. Stop -- stop, he put one last paw-step down and refused to budge another inch; his rump went down, he sagged as if he had hurt himself and became an obstacle.

I'm not going anywhere until you say yes, Tit didn't know why he was pushing this point so hard; he should've just taken the opportunity to get free, to get home, but he couldn't. He'd make his family understand (although even he didn't understand what was happening really), and if they didn't like it then... Titmouse shook his head as he thought hastily of what to do. You have to say yes. You have to. Come with me, get away from here. This place -- these people -- they're crazy.

Ignoring him seemed to be a pretty good tactic, but they had only made it a few feet before he slumped to the ground. Biting in a certain word, she instead hissed, "idiot"  He was horribly, horribly stubborn, and she stared at him exasperated, considering knocking him over the head and dragging him away.  She wasn't sure why he cared so much, not even thinking to connect her relationship with Vaati to the boy's kindness toward her, only knowing that she wasn't going to make much headway with him if she cared about getting the two of them out of here, and quickly. 

 "fine. I'll come with you." Truly, it wouldn't have taken much more to get the girl to give in. The boy's proposition at least offered her a chance to fill the murky void that was her life after this. She gave him a pointed look, tail beginning its antsy waving again.

Fade here, have another?

When she finally gave in he was more than happy to get on to his feet again. Once up, Tit gave her a glance and smiled at her - a tiny look of accomplishment, because he'd won again - but the look vanished when he stumbled and had to brace against her. Within a few minutes he was moving (with her help) and they were on their way. Good, he murmured back at her, and then fell in to a concentrated silence while attempting to keep his footing. They'd get back to the caldera and everything would be fine. No more crazy wolves, half-baked children, weird white shit literally everywhere, and his aching leg would finally get a chance to heal. 

To her satisfaction, her words were met with agreement and movement, and the pair were finally able to make headway, the boy leaning against her, and her own battered body holding him up without complaint. It was her own fault he was in this state, and she could bear his weight silently. Snow began to fall around them as they breached the outskirts of the wood, Cassiopeia pausing once to draw in the scent of Vaati at the border. She peered back into the wood, wondering if he was there, guarding her as he had these pasts weeks. Steadying herself, she stiffened her shoulders and stared out at the land beyond the wood, moving forward once more with an air of solemnity fastened around her shoulder's, not looking back once at the place that she had hated and feared and yet, had been her home for two long months.

sure! would you mind starting?