spiraling downwards - joining

[arcy]

ASTER - nonbinary - "fox" - 4 months - elysium

Everything is burning.
Paws on their back, and then they're hurtling.
They've never been afraid of the stars.
They've never wondered if they can die.
They Fall from the sky, and the earth welcomes You.
---
You're covered in dirt. It's been a while, you think -- how long has it been? Flowers, leeching at your blood. Carbon, basis of life. Carbon of stars, carbon of life.. You were covered in it, you think.
Why were you?
You don't know who you are. You don't know where you came from. When you struggle to your paws, dirt gives in above you. Your eyes open, and they see the Sun.
The air is warm. It's colder than it should be, you think, but it's warm to you.
What are you missing?
You're covered in dirt, and you need to get it off. Your limbs weigh tons, and they tremble as they brush at your fur. The flowers pull and ache. They hurt. You hurt. You tremble, and your paws pull.
Your mouth opens, but you don't scream. Roots giving, petals falling, you free the flowers from yourself. It hurts. It hurts. Ithurtsithurtsithurts.
You keep pulling.
And, once they're gone, you lift your head. You smell like blood. There's not a lot you can do about that. Your back hurts. You can't crane your head to survey the damage. Something is missing. You don't know what -- what are you missing?
What happened to you?
You're alone. You've always been alone, you think. You're afraid -- have you been afraid before?
You don't know.
Everything hurts.
You need help.

//casually retcons aster to move them here. this is just a copy of their original thread cause i really liked it. i hope the writing style and lore is fine?
no need for your char to worry abt things falling from the sky, it was ages ago. currently, they can be found somewhere in the territory, your pick, in a patch of uprooted asters. which i dont think would grow here but thats fine in context
they're injured -- covered in dirt, and burned over a large part of their body, with wounds from where they pulled out the flowers.

[hushsound.]

It wasn't very often that Hush just came across a child on the territory, hurt and trembling as they looked around in bewilderment, clearly not sure of how they had gotten here. Truth be told, Hush couldn't remember much of how he had ended up in this world either. The chain of events was fuzzy, with him once being Link, the Hero of the Wild and the knight to Princess Zelda, then he was Hushpaw, a proud mute apprentice of the Bloodlands with big dreams and an even bigger crush, and then... he was here. However, none of this chain had been quite so violent as what Aster now seemed to be going through, their entire form screaming soundlessly for help as they sat there in the middle of the flowers, their fur shifted apart and their skin ripped open with wounds from the flowers that seemed to be their landing pad. Hushsound had just been out for a walk when he came across the patch of strangely growing flowers, along with the strange child in the middle of it all, and he felt himself just stand there and stare, not quite sure what to do. Most of the people that he had welcomed into the Typhoon thus far had been adults or at the very least apprentices, and none of them had been as fearful as this child, but... he knew he had to do something. Moving forward through the flowers, Hush ignored the way that they lightly pulled and stroked against his long golden fur, his blue eyes trained on the fox in front of him. Leaning down a bit so that he was level with them, Hush questioned them softly, his gaze soft and a worried frown on his face as he looked over their injuries, "Hello...? Are you alright? You look like you're hurt... can you come with me? This place is called the Typhoon, and we've got people here that can help patch you up." Normally the small male wouldn't have spoken to someone out loud so quickly, instead opting to write or sign a message out to them, but not only could his words not be seen beneath the flowers here, but he also doubted Aster could read yet.

[glow=black,2,300]LOVE IS NOT A VICTORY MARCH[/glow]

[arcy]

ASTER - nonbinary - "fox" - 4 months - elysium

You are not alone. Your tail(tail, singular?) thumps against the ground as you jolt to stare, wide-eyed and afraid, at the newcomer. A feline? Your ears lie flat against the back of your neck.
He looks kind.
He's talking. You blink, orienting yourself, memorizing the sounds he makes as you try and remember. You .. know what he's saying. Don't you? What is he saying?
He's offering you help. You don't know all of the words he's saying, but you know enough. You are not alone. Your breath hitches, and a strangled sound emerges from your throat. Liquid spills down your face -- you know what it is. What's it called?
Why dont you know anything? What's missing? Why are you scared, why are you alone?
You're not alone, though.
Maybe you would have nodded, if you knew what such a motion signified.
You open your mouth to try and mimic him -- you know how to, you know where it comes from. You don't have a grasp on language, yet -- where had you come from, you wonder, that you knew what he was saying, but not any of your own words?
Not a squeak comes from you. Silent as the void of space. You did it right -- you know you did. Why didn't it work? Why aren't you surprised? You feel .. disappointed, and scared, but you have been since you woke up. Your chest spasms, a sob. You stare helplessly at him.
He'll help you, he'd said.
You struggle to your paws. You'd fallen, when you were pulling the flowers out. It'd hurt -- it still hurts. It's all consuming, coating your skin like stardust, burning through your soul. You squeeze your eyes shut at the rush of star-bright pain.
You hadn't noticed, earlier, distracted by the newness and the flowers, rooted in your skin.
You wobble on your feet, uncoordinated and unsteady. Gravity pulls against you like something new, something novel. You don't belong here -- you know so little about this world, about yourself. Where did you come from? Why are you here? Your steps are shaky as you try and stumble towards Hushsound, like a new thing, still learning to walk. And maybe you are -- it certainly feels novel and new, and frightening especially.

[hushsound.]

Unfortunately for Hush, a male already pretty bad at communication and making friends, despite how hard he tried, that Aster didn't seem as though she was able to be of an help. He could see the confusion and exhaustion that echoed in her eyes as she shakily got up to her feet, her mouth opening but no noise emerging from her muzzle. Hush actually... knew the feeling pretty well. For the most part, he was able to talk when he actually wanted to, but there were certain times where he just wasn't able to. He would open his mouth, stretch his vocal chords and willed something, anything to leave his mouth, but then nothing would come out, too stricken by anxiety or too upset by something that was going on. Those were the moments where he felt truly useless, since he would grasp in vain at anything he could do besides speak, and often that wouldn't work. That was part of the reason that he missed being Link, just because back then he didn't need his words in order to help others. He could just be his usual knightly self and protect Zelda, and that would serve him far better than any words could. He wished that he could do that in this world as well, but he knew it would be a little while before he could have the respect that he so desperately wished for these days. He had gotten a taste of it at the last meeting, when Goldie had shouted him out for helping out and being around so much lately, but he was determined to make sure that was only the beginning.

And his first step? It would be assisting Aster, since it was obvious that she was disoriented and couldn't quite explain herself to him yet. Carefully the feline padded forward to meet the child, moving up beside her so that she could lean her weight against him, not wanting her to fall over with her already shaky stance. He wasn't sure if she could actually understand him right now, but he still spoke in soft and rough tones as he gestured with his head towards the main camp of the Typhoon, slowly moving forward one step at a time so that Aster could keep up, "You can't talk yet, huh? Well, that's okay. I can't really talk most of the time either. Come on, you follow me to our main camp, and we'll get your wounds patched up a bit, and then we can figure out what to do next. I don't know if your parents are somewhere around here, or how long you've been here, but I promise you we can help..." He still knew that there was a very good chance that Aster couldn't understand a thing that he was saying, but he was hoping that his calm smile and reassuring tone of voice – albeit gruff – would be enough to communicate that she was going to be fine.

[glow=black,2,300]LOVE IS NOT A VICTORY MARCH[/glow]