Sleep was always like floating in grey nothing. It burned her lungs like her smokes, it clogged up her mind and made her just as unfocused. Lack of sleep wasn't the problem, but rather lack of good sleep. Losing good sleep wasn't exactly the same as losing sleep- she wasn't exhausted day in and day out, but she was still unfocused. Settling in wasn't as easy as it seemed for most people. "Welcome back, did you have a good vacation?" Something tasted bitter in her mouth as she wandered away from the town, sick and tired of being confined.

Her eyes drifted about as she wandered, her paws dragging and gaunt body coughing here and there as she struggled uphill. A scent caught her nose, gently twitching and her ears flattening. She wasn't able-bodied right now, she wasn't able to fight, run, defend herself- her breath caught as her mind exploded with a thousand possibilities, but one scene pulled her back center. Dark, night, water. The washing tide of the shore, the sharp smell of cool sand, ocean and fish- and a certain Queen.

She was light and dark, the hellbringer and angel of below. She was wrath, but pride and beauty, a put-together mess, but in the best way. Her body relaxed, dragging herself the rest of the way up the hill. She stumbled for a second, coming into view of winged tiger, croaking a pitiful sound to get her attention. Very little speech had come from her since she arrived- her normal spunk, full of anger and wrath herself, but never pride. She was greedy for attention, most times, and this was her normal opposite.

Well, so was screaming on the border.

"Goldie." She managed, coming to a stop near her. A watery, green eye and a mismatched second focused on her, ears flattened against her head. She didn't speak for a moment, her tuft of tail twitching. The white of it flashed as she stepped forward, closer, smacking her forehead into Goldie's leg. "Dummy."

"SPEECH"

It stung, at first, to hear Goldie say that. But she knew it was her own fault. She had been gone, she didn't leave a note- she just disappeared into the night, hiding from reality, hiding in her head and not caring for herself. But the shift in her voice was indicative, the paw around her side. Her eyes squeezed shut, ears flattening gently. She could hear how tired she was. "They're just some scratches." She murmured in reply. Her eyes lifted up towards Goldie, searching the pair the other female beheld.

Ugh, her heart. It pounded for this idiot.

She stepped back for a moment, cursing herself for not being taller. She reached a paw up, wincing a bit as she did, gently holding Goldie's cheek for a moment. She allowed herself to talk, the most since she's shown up here. "You need to sleep. Not.. in a bush." She murmured, lowering her paw with a grunt. Her head jerked towards town. "I can sneak you in, if you were trying to avoid the Tanglers..?"

"SPEECH"

She bit her tongue, sharply, to ground her. Remind her, of the distance, the ache in her head and the impossible, tangible. Goldie was uber important. She was the leader of the Typhoon, who took down the Pitt. She lead the Pitt. That was impossible shit, wasn't it? Her eyes watered a bit, and she squeezed them closed for a second. She was here, she was okay. Her ears twitched, slowly opening her mismatched eyes. She searched Goldie's tired eyes. She looked so exhausted, and something inside of Sam burned like a tiny candle. Her heart, thumping gently. She was aware of it, suddenly, painfully so.

She cleared her throat, lowering her paw with a wince. Damn joints ached. She really was in pain, malnourished, wasn't she? She listened to Goldie speak for a moment, seeing the momentary doubt of wanting to deny help, and a touch of a frown hit her. Why was she always so independent? Why did she refuse to receive help where she needed it? Was she living up to a legend? "I don't mind the smell. 'sides, the arena was.. way worse." She hesitated in speaking about it, before turning towards town and gesturing with her nose.

"Don't make me hold your paw all the way there, Roux." She teased, a tiny grin on her face. With the arrival of Goldie.. she suddenly felt herself again. Sam started to pad towards town, her tiny doe-like tail flicking in momentary happiness, letting her heart soar for a moment.

"SPEECH"

Simply as friends. She wasn't sure if that would be true, soon. She wouldn't be concerned about it now, though, turning back to look towards Goldie with a blink. The desire in her eyes, the want to help. It was a mutual thought, a burning in her throat. She wanted to speak, to hold her. To be her column and support her. Actually, she probably needed that for real right now. Sam stepped back towards her, scanning her once again with a slight frown. She let the moment of the arena slip, her eyes refocusing time and time again.

She sighed gently. Goldie would've survived in the arena. She could tear through that Grey Man like it was paper, forget it's strange mannerisms. Sam was too weak to survive the arena. The other captives, she murdered them in fear for survival. She cleared her throat, refocusing. Don't get lost, don't chase the rabbit. She turned a bit, padding to Goldie's side and pressing against her, supporting her as they walked. She might've been weak and malnourished, but two souls instead of one walked stronger together.

"You're a big dummy. This isn't healthy." She said, her tone solemn suddenly. She glanced up at her, trying to keep them moving. There was a shack on the side of town she was heading towards, with a couple of pillows and a ragged blanket. She knew that much, the giant princess on her side would be able to rest. "Hey, you're gonna refer me for guardsman right? Because I helped?"

"SPEECH"

In one year, all of Sam's relationships had changed. Dean, come, gone. Tyler, gone, Miles- she never particularly cared for him either, but gone. Her mind, awoken by some destiny, brought her here. Leroy, here, gone. Wormwood, now Aurum. Her own self, here, gone. The cycle never seemed to end, Sam believed to herself. People will always leave you, but yet, there was some yawning, yearning feeling of hope inside of her with each glance her mismatched eyes threw to Goldie. Something golden, fiery, all electricity and everything powerful, and shockingly nothing bad yet.

Her ears flattened as she spoke. "Not alone you don't have to. Goldie, this is too much.. stress." She spoke to her, eyes lifting to her face as best she could before focusing on the ground again, looking away for just a second. She huffed a bit. The Pitt was an overly sore topic for Sam. Her eye, chest, side, back- they'd been all screwed to hell just because of one of their members. Imagine what multiple of them could do. Her eyes closed as they walked, a twig snapping beneath her paw causing them to jump back open, ready for anything. Her head swung about for a moment, before shaking her head with a sigh.

However, as Goldie spoke again, her face turned a deep red. She stumbled over a rock, catching herself with a click of her hoof sliding against it. "A-ah. Sure, my highness. Anythin' for you." She replied, stuttering her words with a suddenly stormy look. She couldn't bear to look up at Goldie now. The shack she had them headed to was in sight now, just down a hill.

"SPEECH"