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ITEM (Nothing To Use!)

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ACT (No Enemy Present!)

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RUN (Paralyzed!)

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It was very dark in the caves. It was so dark, he could not see which paw was in front of the other. It was so dark, his eyes could not see even the grey of the floor and walls. It was so dark, he was certain he had his eyes closed the whole time. At least, he thought he did. This all made it very hard to navigate, you must understand. There were no landmarks to go off of and no faint smell except for the one coming from himself, and /that/ was a stretch. To him, that was just how the cave smelled. Following vague directions when you both didn’t know what they meant and had no way of figuring it out was very hard, too. Southeast was the same kind of nonsense word as Hippopotamus and Sunlight! Yet here he was, walking aimlessly. It wasn’t like he could go back to Her. She was long gone by now.

The walking was the least of his worries. What was really awful was stubbing his little paws on little rocks and little stalagmites and little ledges and little divots in the cave floor. Every so often, he’d have to catch himself from completely losing his footing. It was only a matter of time before he stepped down off of some very steep ledge, which was exactly what happened next. There was a yelp, probably from him(Because who else would it have been from?), and then he felt wind on all sides. Wind.. Wind? Oh, Gods!

Southeast hit the ground. Hard. Knocked the air out of his lungs and flattened his chest, and then his throat hit the dirt followed by a scraggly chin. He continued, rolling up(Up?) and out(OUT?!). Completely disoriented, his eyes were certainly closed now as twiggy hindlimbs brought themselves up in the air, kicking and flailing until four paws were on the ground. Dizzy, he shook his head.

Eyes opened, and he flailed again, blinded and pained as something very very bright hit his pupils. The boy was certain he would never see again! Paws came up and over his eyelids with a whine, fur bristled as he sat. What terror, what terror indeed. He felt like a Rolly-pollie, hiding from the terrible world around him. Just without all of the armor.

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ITEM (Nothing To Use!)

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ACT (No Enemy Present!)

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RUN (Paralyzed!)

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Was this that thing he’d heard of, very long ago? The Son, El Sol? Or at the very least, some kind of Light? The boy had not the faintest clue of why it was here or how he could have missed it when it must have been so close, but maybe there was something about going down that made more of it? Surely, They would have known about an Exit like they were always looking for? But there were Daemons outside, so it was for the better that they did not. OH GODS!

Stiffening like a rock or log in an attempt to hide, Southeast’s ears unconsciously pricked at the unfamiliar voice. He almost had no clue as to what it said. (“Are you all Right, little one?”) Now, he was not made entirely of Rights nor was he made of Lefts, so he had to assume he was alright. Then again, he had never really been able to tell.

A trembling paw slowly but surely did pull away from his eye, and though he could not see and it hurt very much to do so, it did not hurt as badly as before. There was a prolonged silence as his claws inched and inched and inched away from his face until it had adjusted faintly to the Day-light. This.. was not the cave.

Where was he?

How had he gotten here?

Immediately panicked and even more afraid, his eyes closed and locked up again. No way! All of this was Batnonsense. It was Springtail-stupid. It was Cricket crazy! How had he ended up here, and why was there Wind, and why was there a thing speaking to him? Oh no, oh no.

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ITEM (Nothing To Use!)

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ACT (Choosing To Speak!)

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RUN (Nowhere To Go!)

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She- Definitely she, and not it- speaks again. Southeast cringes again. He opens an eye, the left, angled at her. This woman is not a Daemon, that is what he knows. She’s a wolf, as well. She must have been from that other pack- the one that took over the forest and sent them into the caves. But wouldn’t she be able to smell the difference between them? He could.

Nose twitching with rapid sniffs of the air, his mouth watered at something as equally foreign as everything else. Salt, and then something very pungent. Almost sour, but not quite. It was a pleasant sour, like a fragrant mushroom. It was nice, if strong. The boy figured that this situation was fine. Just that. Could be better, could be worse, but it was more than alright. No sé, Starting with a warbly voice, he cleared his throat for another attempt. I.. I’m fine.

There was a bend of ankles, then an attempt to stand to prove his point. Hind lifted, tail tucked, then he shoved himself upward. Not too high, not too fast. His head still hurt. Big eyes could finally afford a proper look at the sleek dame ahead of him. She was dark, as all wolves were, but the black was in the wrong places. Usually, there was a cape of it around their back and shoulders and.. All of their upper body, really. There was no reason to judge, he decided. I think.. He struggled to find his words- days, near weeks of silence had taken its toll on him. I think I’m lost. I was just in the cave, but..

The boy spins about to spot the foxhole he rolled out of. He hadn’t seen grass or shrubbery or trees before, and it was all incredibly disorienting. Was this what Out-side looked like? So overwhelming. Taking a seat to figure out where he was looking, Southeast twisted over his right shoulder to look at Daiyu. Where am I? Speech grew more difficult as he continued, now having to clear his throat again. He hoped that was enough, for he was almost certain he’d start coughing if he spoke any more.

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ITEM (Nothing To Use!)

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ACT (Choosing To Speak!)

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RUN (Nowhere To Go!)

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Quite frankly, he had no idea why he’d asked.

It wasn’t like he knew what that meant. It was complete and utter gibberish. Weeping.. Willow.. In somewhere. He didn’t think he heard her right, but he didn’t want to ask and confirm either.

Southeast found himself in a bit of a pickle. More than the pup already was. Here were the both of them, sat confusedly, pondering the differences between themselves. This was so weird! It was like he ended up in some kind of place the Daemons had taken over. All memory of the subterranean packs, wiped from the face of the world, in only four months? If it had not been at the cost of his family, he’d be impressed. How could everything up here be so weird and different? His packmates had said it was beautiful, but he found it hard to understand why. Maybe if he gave it more time...

The boy realized he had been giving the lady a very bug-eyed, blank stare for the past few minutes. She must have been expecting him to respond.. Oh boy. Brow wrinkled with worry and his mouth gaped open in some fishlike manner before he snapped back to reality. Hhn- The attempts to reply had scratched his throat raw. Coughing, Southeast’s paw lifted in a stiff manner, as if telling the woman to wait.

We.. KhhRKn-! Didn’t have a name. They t-kkhhn- ..Told me it was the wolves up HERE, A brief pause to have a coughing fit. Eyes watered. Paw on his throat, he patted it to soothe the irritation. ..Who put us in the cave. Don’t you remember? He, at least, assumed she did. It had happened all across the lands! His packmates had told him that the sky went dark with red estrellas y luna, so surely anybody above ground would have seen it.

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ITEM (Nothing To Use!)

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ACT (Choosing To Speak!)

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RUN (Nowhere To Go!)

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He put a paw to his chin, deep in thought. A tunnel and cave were essentially the same thing to him. She must have been correct, because the other option was that he had been lied to for his entire life and everything he’d been through had been for nothing. Of course, the suggestion that everyone could have just walked somewhere else instead of staying in that cavern for the rest of their lives was also upsetting, but he would not confront a stranger with that realization now. (Especially when she doesn’t even seem certain.)

Possible or not, the boy’s eyes widened some. It was a stretch to say he didn’t look worried anymore, but he wasn’t on the brink of tears. A shaky breath, the tilt of a scruffy head, yes! An answer he could understand! Ah-huh.. That was almost exactly what happened to him, verbatim! He entered the cave, walked and walked, and now he was here, with Light!

But the question of what to do about this newfound information was.. ever present. Faint smile straightened out and his blank stare returned, squinting as he looked around the area. He still didn’t know where he was, nor did he know what anything was. Southeast now understood what it meant to have a very big problem. Usually, they would have been sorted by now. Such was the life of a child.

The tan wolf resorted to staring at her again. If he could, perhaps, communicate telepathically, that would solve this issue. What did he do now, he wondered? Surely, she knew.