SLEEPWALKER // storage & testing

[rakue]

oo heck i dont want to lose this - this would have been a flashback to elliott's death & him coming to terms with it with the other souls

The brakes. Fuck, he kept pushing his foot down but nothing was happening. Fuck, fuck, his foot was flush with the floor of the car and it wasn't responding in the slightest. Fuck, fuck, fuck, he was taking this corner way too fast oh fuck-

The feeling of weightlessness encased in a two ton shell of steel weights.

The impact of hitting something, the uncomfortable sensation of sinking.

Descending into a black pit, strapped into the machine meant to save you that would take you down with it to the depths of Hell. Black and cold and wet, everything Hell wasn't supposed to be, feet splashing in a thin layer of water as it forced itself into the car the further they sank.

He rolled down the windows and got the door open, but God, it was hard against the water pressure.

His head felt light. Did he forget to breathe while he still had the chance? Or was he just so weak that it took so little to wind him?

His eyes were open but he could barely see. They stung as saltwater rushed against them, feet kicking sloppily to push him closer to the surface. A hand reached forward, desperately grasping at the strands of light filtering through just beneath the surface. He was so close. He could make out the ripples atop the surface, could see the wakes created by the impact of his car.

His mouth opened, violently burning lungs filling with water in a silent gasp.

The addition of weight wrapped an anchor around his ankle, pulling him further down at a rate that his flailing only accelerated.

No, no, he was so close!

The strands of light disappeared from his fingertips, suspended in a darkness he could not fully comprehend. He did not know which way was the surface, which way was the lakebed. If, or when, he'd make contact with the bottom of the lake. Water pressed strongly at his skin, clothes loosely hanging off of him as the soft currents led them.

Would his parents be okay? Oh, he hoped so. He hoped they knew how much he loved them. That he never meant for this to happen. It wasn't anything he had control over, anything that could have been avoided like it could have for Kody.

... Kody.

Kody and Kaiser were gone.
Now Elliott was leaving too.

Not that any of them had much of a choice.

Would Miles be okay? Miles worried him. Miles struggled with the loss of Kody, but the murder of Kaiser tore down whatever he had left. He'd still have Wisteria though, right? She was a smart girl, definitely smarter than he was, suspended in nothingness waiting to run out of oxygen. She could help him through his problems. Hopefully the others would pull out of it easier. They moved past Kody and Kaiser with relative ease- at least, as easy as it could be to accept the death of a classmate and close friend. Or maybe they just got better at hiding it.

Oh, he hoped people moved on quickly from him. Of course he wanted to be remembered, but he didn't want to ruin anyone's lives with the loss of his own.

He was beginning to feel lightheaded.

His eyes drifted shut, the same impenetrable darkness that surrounded him with open eyes. His head rolled back, muscles going limp as he slipped out of consciousness.

Southpaw's body jolted as he awoke to a crack of thunder, sloshing through a thin puddle of mud as dark storm clouds wept a rainstorm upon the Thunderlands. Baby blue eyes blinked rapidly, taking in his surroundings. This wasn't- the bottom of a lake. This was his home, or the closest he would ever get to it again. Shaky limbs pushed him to his mud-caked paws, drawing in a long breath of damp air. His chest ached, a feeling the wolfodg took a long moment to appreciate. One he never thought he'd experience again.

"Hey, um, fellas?"

Southpaw questioned open air, taking a slow step toward the direction of camp as a flash of lightning illuminated his surroundings before a crack of thunder deafened him to worldly sounds for the briefest of moments.

"You're talking out loud again, Elliott."

Although Kaiser was the only to speak, he could sense the presence of Kody and Miles as well. Not that they ever left, but rather that they were paying attention. They usually occupied themselves with one thing or another when their body was catching up on sleep.

"Oh, uh, I know, I just wanted to let you all know that, uh, -"

Another clap of thunder interrupted him, not that Elliott minded the powerful display of nature.

"That you know, I love you guys."

"Love you too, dude."
"We love you too."
"Aw, love ya too, Elly!"

The wolfdog nearly walked into a tree at the soul's words, eyebrows drawn into a faux scowl as he trekked back toward his den.

[b]"Aw, c'mon Kody, you know I hate that nickname!"[b]