ORIGIN - There's No Place Called Home

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Cancer didn't need to be told twice. The moment that beast had opened its eyes, he'd given Amaria a good, hard shove and the two were off and running. Horrific sounds screamed at him from behind but he wouldn't stop to see what was happening. He half-push, half-guided the younger leopardess along until finally, safe and sound, they were able to stop and calmly catch their breath beneath the stars of Orion. For a few moments, there was only an uncomfortable silence between them. What could he say? He'd never expected to survive that. The black cat turned towards the Throne, looking for its safe, secluded walls, in hopes of avoiding any passing 'bounds noticing him... and hopefully, Amaria wouldn't leave him on this detour. He wasn't ready to face anyone else yet. Shaken, he just wanted to rest, so he'd lead her up to the throne and she'd have to deal with a few hours rest before anything else. Once atop the throne, the silence finally broke, and with a groan, he settled on the stone seat, stretching out and surprising himself with how much larger he was now, than the last time he'd been here. Finally, without looking at her, he spoke, and his voice was a tired echo of his once boisterous tones.

"...I didn't think..." He started, then stopped, rethinking his sentence for a moment. "...I didn't think I'd see you again." He admitted, finally, as he kept his gaze on the far opposite wall, tired and frankly, emotionless. He couldn't bring himself to sound anything but tired, defeated- honestly surprised to be alive. He'd resigned himself to his fate, and now, it seemed surreal that he'd made it out of there at all.

"Speech"

"Speech"

So much running. If Amaria was anything else than what she was, she swore she would have collapsed before they had even reached Orion. Adrenaline rushed through her, unlike before when it coursed through her veins in her hurry to find cancer, this time it was out of sheer terror. It was only when they finally slowed to a stop beneath the glimmering stars that covered all of Orion's ceiling. She gasped and breathed heavily, desperate to soothe her burning lungs as they desperately gathered the needed oxygen. Releasing a sigh the moment she had finally caught her breath, her rump sunk down to the floor to sit for just a moment.

Her gaze shifted over towards Cancer, studying his rather silent and solemn features. As he began to move without word, Amaria slowly rose to her paws and followed after him. She didn't say a thing as they climbed their way through Orion. When they arrived at a very familiar place, Amaria pulled to a stop and looked upon the throne. Silently she regarded the place, forcing her suddenly racing heart to calm down. A shaky breath escaped her before she was able to shake the feelings away and with a quick crouch, leaped up onto the stone seat of which Cancer now rested upon. She padded closer to him, deciding rather to sit on her rum near his back as she looked him over. He began to speak and she listened without noise.

Lifting her paw up she tentatively touched it against his back, as if she were feeling around him just to make sure she had not gone crazy when she had seen his wounds leave him and transfer to the Lamb. An almost sad smile caught the edges of her features as she pulled her paw away from him. She moved up further, checking for anything else that could have been missed. "I'm sorry. I had no intentions of avoiding you..." She spoke gently, nothing but concern lacing into her soft voice. She studied his features as he kept his gaze pinned on the opposite direction than her. Of course, she wasn't sure what the context of his words were in. Perhaps it was because he had thought he was going to die in that pit, or perhaps it was because she had been scarce about since the incident that had happened in the very spot they now rested in. Regardless, she did feel bad for not being around as much as she probably should have been. This was not a time to be worrying over that though, so Amaria quickly pushed those thoughts away.

Once Amaria was satisfied that she truly could not find any remaining injuries upon the fellow leopard, she soon decided that she would slowly ease herself to lay next to him. She kept herself close to him, not because she felt it was needed for her, but so that Cancer knew she would not be leaving his side. Without even thinking about it Amaria began to groom the fur around the back of his neck and further up along towards the back of his ears. It was a harmless thing, nothing at all meant behind the grooming aside from the affection of a friend who was just concerned for her fellow leopard's well being. Or perhaps it was to keep her busy, to ignore the memories that threatened to flash before her mind's eye. She wasn't sure what to say to him. She was extremely happy that she had found him alive, and even more so to find that his wounds had been healed. Even if that meant a lamb now roamed around with his wounds. Though, there was something strange about that lamb. Something that left Amaria wondering how she would handle such wounds as it now faced the massive monstrosity that they had only moments ago fled from.

"Do you need anything?" It was the most she could find herself to ask him. She knew how tired he was, could hear it in his voice when he had spoken. She would worry about telling him she was relieved to find him not on the brink of death. She didn't know how she would have handled finding him on the brink of death. Which, honestly, she had. She got to witness the magic of a Lamb that had healed Cancer. She would most definitely go searching for that Lamb, to give the lamb her thanks for providing Cancer aid even though Amaria was sure Cancer had not asked of it. For now, she would tend to Cancer however he needed.

Cancer would've lost himself in his thoughts, had he had any in that moment. His mind was a blur, a horrible, muted mess of white and shadows. Everything that had happened, everything in the last twenty-four hours... or had it been longer? It was all so chaotic. He felt his muscles quivering under the weight of his armor, and when Amaria came to sit with him, resting a paw on his back, he flinched. Though healed, he felt as if the flesh there would bubble and peel at any given moment, so when she lifted her paw away again, he found himself relaxing muscles he hadn't realized he'd been tensing. She apologized, and after a moment of staring, settled down beside him. He shook his head slowly- she didn't need to say sorry. He'd been the one to close himself off from the world. He'd even pushed Bevy away, and poor Quix had been neglected in his angst. All over that stupid lioness.

Makyna... His heart wrenched at the thought of her. It was only made worse when Amaria began to groom his fur. He tensed, went rigid under her touch, but after some seconds, finally, he began to relax into it. It felt good, he had to admit, to be near someone. He'd given up hope, he'd condemned himself to death... and not just a typical, victim's death, but a murderer's death. He was so ready to take Leon's life with his own... I'm a monster. I'm no better than that beast. Ears flicked back against his head and he looked as if he were in pain. She asked if he needed anything, and he stiffly shook his head.

Again, silence stole the room. The two cats sat in total silence, Amaria's attention on him, his own attentions stuck in the events of the day passed. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, he once again found his voice.

"I was so certain that he wouldn't leave me alone... I was so sure he'd kill me if I gave him the chance..." The leopard's pelt shook first, then the muscles in his legs, and then his whole body quivered with shock and dread. Claws sank into the stone, bloodstained and tufted with brown fur. He almost wretched- his stomach flipped. "I was going to kill him, Amaria. I was... I was going to...t-to..." The memory of standing over the terrified, well-defeated bear... it shook him to his core. "I didn't... I didn't know what else to do! When Leon came at me like that, I just-" He wasn't telling the story in defense- rather, he sounded horrified with himself, his own actions. How could he have done those things? Then, rapid-fire brain came up with another concern. Suddenly, he sat up.

"The sheep! Oh, lords below, we just left her there!" He cried, and tears ran down his cheeks, soaking his fur. Frantic, he moved to stand but a ghost pain, from the knife perhaps, the memory of it, shot up his leg and he sat back down hard. "We need to save her! She's got all those injuries! She'll die!" Panic-stricken, he could think of nothing else now. He'd condemned yet another poor soul to death! "That thing is going to kill her! She saved me! She's pure! We're okay, we should go back and--"

"Speech"

Amaria listened as Cancer spoke. Ears pinned back against her skull as she had no words to give him over Leon. She was already in a mess of emotions on how to feel about the entire thing, but in all truth it was still Leon's fault for starting the fight in the first place. At least in her mind it was. She loved her dear brother, but one must face the consequences of a fight. All she could find herself to do was try to comfort Cancer best she could, be it from gently grooming his fur or simply being next to her. Even then it was still probably not enough to ease Cancer from all that he was now dealing with.

When the fellow leopard exclaimed about the lamb Amaria sat up when he began to stand. Her brows furrowed as she studied the tears that fell from his eyes. She reached up and tentatively touched his cheek, pushing his tears away. "That lamb will be fine. She is far stronger than either of us. Not to mention that dragon will gobble us up the moment we step paw into that room again. We cannot..." It was with a heavy heart she had to tell Cancer there was nothing they could do to aid the lamb. They may be fine and Cancer may no longer have his wounds, but even a blinded bat would see it would only be a bad idea.

"We can check on her...just not right now," She pulled her paw from his cheek and set him with an apologetic look. Hopefully he would go along with it. She really didn't want to be forceful about it, but there was no way they could go back there right at this moment and not get burned by that dragon's flame or chewed up by his fangs. Cancer was bigger than she was now, but Amaria would not give in if he tried to go back.

"Speech."

Tags: cancer
OoC: kinda meh.