A BOTTOMLESS CURSE, A BOTTOMLESS SEA || CAUSTIC

[BLOODHOUND.]

Bloodhound finds themself following Caustic's gaze, their eyes setting on his paws. The metal toes. They hadn't realized he'd lost fingers. It hadn't come up. He was always wearing those gloves.

Caustic meets their gaze, and tells them of his own memories. How he ended up here, a portal gone awry. Something  gone horribly wrong. A mistake. They stay silent, but they lower their head, a sort of sympathy. Understanding.

Their ears perk up, hearing of Octavio. It was also their first clue, that perhaps... they were not from the same dimension. Their own Octavio had been very focused on the women in his life, and his followers. He had not pursued much more than a passing acquaintanceship beyond Ajay. To follow Caustic here of his own volition... was curious indeed.

The Doctor seemed to speak fondly of him, even in calling him a fool, there was a genuine... warmth, about it. Curiouser and curiouser. Was this something they'd missed? An aspect of the Games they had managed to overlook? Was everyone forming genuine connections with each other, while Bloodhound stood alone, keeping their distance, watching from afar? They were sure they'd been keeping an eye on everyone, learning their strengths, weaknesses. Perhaps these calculations hadn't accounted for... whatever this is.

Perhaps the distance they maintained had been an error. They had not joined the Games to make friends, but thought fondly of the other Legends all the same. Each one brought their abilities and an admirable determination to the playing field. They had enjoyed time spent with them, when they sought it out. They laid each of their downed opponents to rest with a weapon in hand. Hoping upon hope, to fight again with them in Valhalla, when the wolf comes.

And yet... Bloodhound did not trust any of them outside of team cooperation. It wasn't easy, to balance affection and friendship with the fact that at any moment, you may have to kill someone you care for to get ahead. That in reality, there was money on the line, and that may be the only reason these people are looking out for you. You had higher chances, if your team was alive and at the ready. They had thought the games hadn't allowed for this sort of thing, that it was an easy way to make oneself a target.

"It is certainly an odd fate. I am glad that we find ourselves in the same place." Something... someone familiar, at the very least. "Is Octavio in Tanglewood? Has he found himself a wolf, as well?"

But perhaps... Bloodhound was blinded by their own inability to get close to others, their worries of losing everything they had with another person in the blink of an eye. The memory of their parents' deaths, their uncle, all of it was still painfully fresh, even after all these years. Perhaps isolating oneself, was not exactly a healthy way to cope.

Perhaps they had relied too long, on ravens for companionship.

"Is the gas... the same?" They venture, staring at it as it coils up and away from Caustic's jaws. It was strange, that they both had maintained... some aspects, of who they were as people. A reminder of their humanity, within these feral bodies.

THE TRUE TEST IS BEFORE THE ALLFATHER.