"Ancient Dreams in a Modern Land" ♆ tags ── And there it went. And there ve was, standing on the shores of Haven Island while the boat left. Vis paws swayed gently but Scyllios snorted, flicked an ear, and waltzed further into the jungle. Vision warped and warbled but ve cared little. But as drowsiness had settled in... ve lies under a broad leaf to sleep.

Heart beating woke the maned wolf up, scrabbling on moist dirt to stand on wobbling legs and looking around with the most violently fearful expression ve had ever given to anyone. And vis eyes met the icy fur of a lioness and vis jaws opened in a panic-induced scream. This lioness said nothing, simply stared at vem with a monstrous grin. This was, without a doubt, a hallucination of Sojourn. But that didn't make it any better.

"GET AWAY FROM ME, YOU BITCH!" Scyllios screamed, first verbal and first loud words to be ripped from vem in months. Ve scrabbled back and snarled, barked, sneered, but nothing worked. Finally, all ve could think of to get away was simply running into her. And it worked. To run from the devil is to give in, to run into the devil is to defeat it. Ve ran head-first into her and right through her, sending the maned wolf into the ground.

With no words to give, ve sprinted away from where ve was.

It was here where the grey shark-octopus made his appearance in this stupid little circus show. Open mouth curved into a wild grin as tears welled up. "Octavio. Octavio!" Ve barked, running up to him. His rough skin felt safe, and ve almost felt as though his tentacles had coiled around vem in a protective manner. For a solid few minutes Scyllios basked in the safety until the wordless laughter of the bitch had erupted.

She had bounded into the two's embrace, all bloodied and mangled. This was the worst, as Octavio unraveled his tentacles and charged the lioness, much to the dismay of a very anguished Scyllios. Ve could only watch as the two tore each other apart, though as Sojourn delivered a blow to Octavio that would certainly kill the sharktopus that Scyllios had grown to like, a shriek ripped away from their throat.

And then the vision faded, and the sun began to rise. Vis vision started to return to normal.

Paws frantically searched for grounding and they booked it toward the shore. None of the fight that ve saw as real, but it branded vem with a vehement fear. Ve wanted to make sure Octavio was okay. My child. The words echoed in vis ear and ve halted, skidding on the sands and looking around. Not again. Not again. My child. Flesh of my flesh, blood of my blood. I am no hallucination. Come back to me. A violent snarl left them and the voice fell silent.

By the time the boat had come back, ve had calmed down. With a curt nod to the boat NPC, ve hopped into the boat and got ready to see the island they called home again. And once they got there, ve took a deep breath and walked along the dock. Eyes searching for Octavio.

You thought you could go free -

[sub][W]isker[/sub]