The Deep Forest I'm gonna go crazy

He did not stop running until his legs collapsed beneath him. His stomach thudded against the ground, another oof! tumbling off his tongue as he struggled to control his breathing. You’re okay, you are okay, you didn’t die. Almost. But you didn’t. Good job. The world around him was spinning, swirls of deep emerald and cherry. Sachiel had almost forgotten about the injury he’d received until he tried to move his tail, causing a loud yelp to escape him followed by a low whine. How was he supposed to hide that from his parents?! They wouldn’t be happy that he had snuck away so far from the (horribly orange) Vale and gotten hurt. He dared not look at his bleeding tail out of fear that half of it was missing.

Hey kid?

Reluctantly the boy lifted his head from the ground, his brows narrowed as he craned his neck to look around for the ebony yearling. Sachiel did not move from his position on the ground for his legs were still trembling and his tail hurt far too much. But he wanted the stranger to know that he was alive—barely—since he had saved his life ’n all. He deserved that, right? The little Leigh parted his jaws to respond but nothing came out. His mouth was too dry and the words caught in the back of his throat. Pressing his lips together he frowned, his ears falling back against his crown as a whine escaped him once more.

Hopefully that was good enough.

ridge is a mature character

aka he curses a lot due to his frustation with his memory loss

x

ridge associates colours with moods/feelings & uses them to describe others

Have a little faith in me

Diego Archer

The pitiful whine was enough to catch his attention and now that the proximity to danger was non-existent he really looked at the kid, like actually took in more than a leggy bundle of brown fur and the thick scent of fear in the air as he poked and prodded to make sure no more than the boy's tail had been nicked. "Not Bojay," He felt a weight lift from his shoulders until it sunk in that just because this wasn't his cousin's kid didn't mean he was in the clear yet. In fact, it could mean quite the opposite. At least Morganna would hear him out.

Now what to do about that tail? He was no healer. Again he cursed his siblings with a string of colourful language coursing through the back of his mind. He'd spent most of their healing lessons snoozing thank you very much. Pietro was meant to have this shit covered. They weren't meant to split up like this! He swept the stormy expression from his face with what he hoped was a winning smile, "You'll live, if we find a stream cold enough it might even stop throbbin for ya, how about it?" He should probably wait for the blood to stop flowing before he took the kid back to his mother, right? He didn't need to deal with some fainting (or possbibly berserker) woman on his hands as well as the kid.

"Do you know your way around? Gotta admit I'm totally lost." Not that he expected the kid to suddenly start talking to him all of a sudden, but it was worth a shot, right?

He was acutely aware of how much of a big baby he was being about his minor injury. He was safe, with his tail still firmly attached to his rump, and the stranger was safe. That’s all that mattered. There was no reason for the boy to be plastered against the ground, cowering and shaking because of a few scratches on his tail. It hurt like heck, but at least it wasn’t worse.

Sachiel allowed the dark loner to push his cold, wet nose into his body to search for more injuries because all he could feel was the dull ache coming from the tip of his tail. Despite being uncomfortable he did not protest. Instead he wore a small frown, his lips drawn tightly shut as his ears remained pressed against his skull. As evergreen words tumbled off the loner’s tongue something clicked in the back of his mind. He knew what would help his tail more than a cold stream. Sachiel shook his head as he pushed himself into a stand, his legs still trembling from the adrenaline pumping through his veins. “Know somethin’ better,” he retorted with a lazy grin before padding toward one of the trees surrounding them. It was one of the few medicinal plants the boy knew about, thanks to his father. Rearing onto his hind legs the boy scratched at the tree, releasing some of the tawny bark. It’ll take the ouch away. He hoped his father was right. Lowering himself to the ground Sachiel picked up a piece of the broken bark, his brows narrowed with uncertainty.

It was not pleasant tasting but it wasn’t completely awful. If it meant his tail would stop hurting Sachiel would eat as much of the white fir bark as possible. He turned to the loner as he spoke once more, his head falling to the side as he chewed on the bark. “Mm’kin’a,” he mumbled, his shoulders rolling into a soft shrug. He swallowed, making a face as the dry bark slid down his throat. Yuck! “Where y’goin'?” Sachiel was still in the process of mapping out the deep forest. He knew how to get back to the Vale but it would involve retracing their steps back to the cat.

He wasn’t even sure he wanted to go back. 

ridge is a mature character

aka he curses a lot due to his frustation with his memory loss

x

ridge associates colours with moods/feelings & uses them to describe others

Have a little faith in me

Diego Archer

Where was he going? Well that could be a loaded question if the one asking it wasn't just a few months old. "Not really sure, I'm looking for my brother and sisters. They might be headed for Whitestone Monadnock, y'heard of it? It's meant to be north of Dire Mountain but I've been over a lot of mountains and haven't found it yet." Gosh he wasn't even sure he was in the right area, the distance was getting close to right. "But before I go there, I gotta get you home. Where are your folks? Do you know which way we gotta go?" He wasn't terribly hopeful, but surely they couldn't be too far away right? And surely they wouldn't live south of here.

Whitestone Monadnock. The name was foreign to him, causing his brows to pinch together as his head tipped to the side. The forest they were currently situated in was the furthest north the boy had gone, for he usually hovered close to the orange borders of the Vale. His nose wrinkled as the dark stranger announced that it was time for him to return home. He shook his head softly. “I know where t’go,” he offered with a shrug, “got this place all mapped out.” No big deal or anything. Sachiel was not even sure it was possible for him to get lost. Even if he passed through a route once he was able to recall the path with ease. His memory only got better as he ached, photographs stored away for future reference. “M’folks are busy. I think.” Another shrug. “Don’ really see 'em much aside from in the mornin’s.” He wasn’t looking for pity—he was just telling the truth.

ridge is a mature character

aka he curses a lot due to his frustation with his memory loss

x

ridge associates colours with moods/feelings & uses them to describe others

Have a little faith in me

Diego Archer

Diego was under the impression that the pup meant he would lead the way back to his own home, not the monadnock, so he went along with it a lot easier than he would have done otherwise. Busy parents was something the Archer was familiar with too and he answered with a lop sided smile of understanding, "Yeah? Mine too, that's why I'm here. My siblings decided to sneak off and I just can't figure out what they were up to so I'm trying to track them down. Don't suppose you've run into any Archers have you? Bit darker than me, silver eyes?" He wasn't expecting an answer, just making small talk, but he brushed his own question off with a quiet chuckle, "Ah, never mind, they probably just don't want to be found anyway." The had always been more adventurous than him, even now he was letting a pup lead him by the nose as they set off through the trees, winding ever northward.

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