Riddle Heights my paper heart will bleed

for @Elias only, backdated to oct. 23rd.

The Southern West had been thoroughly combed over, and there was not even the slightest sign of Elias existing there, much less a trail to follow. Were Nineva alone, she would have given up. This had happened so often before, she couldn't bring herself to hope or even imagine that it could be different, that it would turn out differently. How could she tell that to Ellery, though? For once, she didn't have the words. She was desperate for life to be different in some way for her daughter.

A deep sigh left her, standing alone on one of the many precipices that lined the mountain range. The air was frigid but crisp, and for the first time since they'd left the Keep, she found herself without company. Without anyone but herself to be strong for. She could let the stopper out, finally vent the building emotion within her, if only she wanted to.

She didn't. She wanted it to wither and die without the light of day, killed in that dark secret room within herself.

This place was familiar, Elias could feel it in his bones.

It wasn't home but he couldn't help but feel as though it had been once, a long time ago. The rocky terrain was familiar beneath his tattered paws as he limped along, slowly climbing higher and higher till the air felt light in his lungs. Again, it was a feeling he was accustomed to, like in another life he'd lived high atop a mountain, that the world below seemed to be nothing more than green and brown smudges. He puffed a sigh and went cross eyed as he watched the air waft from his lips. He was feeling better today, his head didn't hurt so bad anymore and his face was scabbing over nicely. The bruises beneath his coat had turned yellowy-green and were starting to fade, he was on the mend, sort of. It was just hard to recover when he didn't know what he'd lost.

There was someone nearby, standing by the edge peering down as Elias so often tended to do. Before he would have inched closer and asked if they were okay, would have worried worried worried. But now he simply watched and winced, unsure what to make of the odd niggling feeling in the back of his head.