Blood trickled down his legs, his throat and face, dripping in a solid trail behind him as he walked, dragging his sore and broken body back towards home. Thankfully, it wasn't a far walk, the tunneled labeled N on his map leading him straight home from Polaris, and the battlefield he'd left behind in silence. He stumbled, and tripped, but kept going. Home. To his daughters. To his son. He had to make it back. His heart failed to keep up, his legs numb, losing blood fast. His armor pinched and twisted in horrible places, every movement was agony. Still, he pressed on, sliding against the uneven stone walls that led back to Orion, where he would be safe. Where he could protect his family again. Where he had purpose. A life. More blood trickled into his eyes and he blinked, too numb to be sick by it. Vision was blurred, red. He had to make it. He had to get home.

His paws did carry him as far as Orion's smooth, stone floor, beneath the shimmer of Quartz crystals. There, he collapsed, in plain sight but uncaring for it. He gave a heavy sigh, then tried once more to get to his feet. Not much farther. Not much longer to go. He had to keep going. He had to reach that precious fort in the back of the city, that safe place he could rely upon to heal in. To rest, beside his girls, under the protection of his son... oh, where was Niru? How much... more...?

@Azazel @Niru

Tagging Niru if he wants in on this. :P Right after the battle with Raheerah.

the sound was sickening. the way he fell, how he'd struggled into orion. my heart sank, my stomach flipped, and my eyes welled up. but i needed to be strong, i couldn't let my emotions take over now, for fear of losing cancer completely. i rushed toward him, running as fast as i possibly could. skidding to a halt as i neared him. time felt like it was running in slow motion, as if to make everything i was seeing even worse.
"cancer,"
i breathed the word, not exactly sure what to say or how to say it, just needing to exert something, or i might have gone crazy.

the good news was he was alive. and that's all i really wanted. but i didn't think he'd come back injured like this. i didn't think he'd actually come back at all. i shook my head, removing all thoughts that mulled so that i could focus solely on cancer and his wounds.
"here, back to the corner, where you're safe, then i'll retrieve whatever it is you need."
i mumbled, wanted to help him back toward the safety of the twins.

@cancer
@azazel

[ rated M for one major swear word ]

That battle, it had been awful, even in the final minutes of it that Azazel had appeared. The Bone King dearly hoped that he had not left behind too many. He could not tell with the thick smoke that lay in Polaris. Under normal circumstances, the Ave would have stayed behind to help, even at risk of his life. Instinct overtook him and he fled from that thick and choking fog.

But he also saw someone else, so he had been following. Someone familiar. Oddly familiar. He hadn't taken a good look until now. That insignia was familiar on the creature's shoulder. Oddly familiar. Continuing forth, Azazel saw the being pause in Orion, and a lion rushed forth. One name had to be called out, and he realized.

It was Cancer.

Keeping silent, he continued to move, but in his head, he quietly chirped. 'Where the fuck have you been?' Unintentionally, he had called out to the feline with his magicka, and a small whisper would sound in his head, perhaps. Circling around, Azazel kept his movements as silent as he could. Suddenly, a choking cough threatened to spill from his beak, and he stifled it a little, but suddenly he could not breathe. His lungs were aflame.

So he fell, careening down and down. He struggled to catch himself, and he lightened the fall maybe just a little bit by uselessly flapping his wings wildly. Slowly, he pushed himself up from the stone and wheezed for breath. "F... uck."

@Cancer

Ah, Niru. Ever the loyal son, he came on fast paws to Carcino's side, attentive and to the point. He knew what the black leopard wanted now, and with his help, Carce got to his feet again, steadier with someone to lean on. It hurt, though. Every step was agony, every shift of his battered muscles, the pinch of his armor against bone and flesh, torn and beaten. He made for the fort either way, it's glossy red walls a comfort now. Behind them, before they could reach the sprawling city of stone, a cough, a voice. The sound startled the battle-worn cat, and he lurched around, eyes and horns flashing a brilliant red...

...and the intruder would feel only a moment's touch before the cat would recoil with an alarming shriek. Pain exploded through his skull, and with a flicker, that red glow would cease. Left in its wake, only splitting pain. Another nose bleed. Brilliant. Carce fell to the floor in a heap of torn leather, bloodied metal and matted fur. There, he rumbled in protest. Blinding pain narrowed his vision, but he turned himself to look and see who his magic had touched- for it had indeed felt something, some faint pulse, before backfiring so harshly.

Azazel. He'd know that cat-faced bird anywhere.

"Just b-because you wear a cat's face, doesn't make you quiet like one, you rotten bone-fiend." He snarled, not too harshly- enough to let the Bone King know his sneaking around wasn't appreciated. "Why've you followed me?"

@Niru @Azazel

the words from the fallen cancer spat at the bird, this azazel. my eyes narrowed, lids squinted as i vaguely remember him from somewhere. i kept this recollection hushed as of now, for the pressing matter was not who i did or did not recognize, it was cancer's recovery. his health mattered most, but the bird seemed to also be in bad shape. i wanted to also help the bird but i would wait for cancer's okay on the matter, for if they were enemies, then i was leading azazel to cancer's twins. and then i'd be failing. i couldn't fail.

my posture erected before i reached downward to offer cancer another helping paw in standing up, hoping to get him to lean on me again. i kept silent for some time, jaded eyes flicking between bird and leopard, unsure what the next move was here. i'd have no problem taking out an injured buzzard if that were cancer's wishes. but sometimes my dear father was a bit hard to read, so i rightly couldn't tell if they were enemies, friends, or frenemies.

even though i'd like to speak up, to implore cancer to either leave the bird behind and continue on so i can actually help him, or to let him have a conversation at this most inopportune moment, but i should remain respectful. i should remain polite. i will stifle this nagging anxiety, fear, hurt and despair for the sake of chivalry. if that's even what you'd call it.

@azazel
@cancer

That voice. It was Cancer's. Slowly, he pushed himself onto his feet and wheezed out, "It's you... it's really... you." He... he'd thought the black leopard was dead. He hadn't seen the fwline in Pisces. He hadn't even been mentioned. For a moment, Azazel forgot what was being asked of him. Finally, he realized.

"I saw you at the fight in Polaris... or I thoughr it was you beneath that armor. I had to find out... that's why I was following you." For a moment, he stared at the bloodied mess that was Cancer, then the powerful and muscular lion that stood at his side. He was oddly familiar. Maybe he'd seen him somewhere before. He looked to the feline, and he murmured. "I went to Maji Walezi for aid, and you weren't there. Nobody mentioned you. I thought... you were dead."

@Cancer

Azazel was in rough shape, so his answer came in a wheeze. Carce settled himself, flicking a dismissive tail for Niru to leave him be. He was fine like this. A rest here would not deter him from later returning to the fort. He looked to Niru first.

"Help me out of this mess." His voice was rough, wet with blood which spattered from his lips as he breathed. The armor pinched and twisted painfully against raw skin underneath. He needed relief from it- and later, he'd fashion a new set, in hopes opf avoiding this problem in the future. His attention turned to Azazel, but he moved with Niru slowly to work his way out of the mess of metal and hide.

"Not dead, not yet. Gave it my best shot though, didn't I? You survived, though. No thanks to that crap you call armor, though." Carcino spat, grinning despite his pain. "I've resigned from Maji. Been here in Orion, but in another cycle, I'll be moving on. Too many unlikely folk know I'm here, and know I had a part to play in Raherah's waking." Each word bubbled, but he managed to stay coherent. "You can rest here, though. My home is always open to you, old friend." A pointed look at Nriu suggested he be good to the bird. He was no danger to the twins. Best he be kept just as safe, less the Bonebound lose their King.

@Niru @Azazel
Ooc: mobile post lol just finished moving so enjoy crappy formating

good, azazel was a friend. i could relax a bit now. relieved, i offered a smile toward the bird.
"hello azazel. i'm glad to see you've survived. yes, stay so that i can help both of you."
i offered politely, giving a dip of the head before remembering that there were some herbs that could rightly help the both of them - to ease pain. as i helped cancer out of his armor, i felt rejoiced.
"i know of some plants and herbs in eridanus that can help you both, when you're both settled i can run and get you them."
i spoke with a moderate tone, unwilling to allow my anxiety to show it's ugly face.

"i'm so glad you made it, father, you have no idea how worried i was."
and how i was mentally preparing for your eternal absence.
which only meant that my fears of the twins replacing me might come to be true. would he love them more, what with them being his flesh and blood. while i, a mere lion whom he'd found wandering about. i gave a small shake of the head, such negativity wasn't needed right now. i needed to focus on my duties here, on the twins' safety, on both azazel's and cancer's recovery.

@azazel
@cancer

Wheezing once again, Azazel raised a wing to his chest and gently pressed on his sternum, as if it would force the smoke out of his own lungs. But it was futile. He coughed weakly again, and as Cancer insulted his cat skull, he slumped a little. His head tipped downwards a little, the helm sliding off his head and clattering on the stone floor. "I can't see anything in front of me." He meant that figuratively and literally, but the literal meaning was more accurate right now.

Coughing weakly, he looked to Niru and nodded then at Cancer. "So you've been hiding here... it's a wonder I never saw you. I've been through here so many times." Kerberos had been standing guard, too. At the mention of waking Raheerah, he looked off to the side. He had heard tell of that, but he didn't know if it was true. It was now, it seemed. "It couldn't be helped that you happened to fall down there." It was only a matter of time before the devil awakened from his slumber.

Slowly, he settled down into a sitting position and he looked to the lion. Eridanus... a land of lush greenery. "Eridanus is too far from here. At this rate, he'll bleed out." Even if the lion ran, he knew the jungle paradise was too far. "We should get the armor out of him and work on getting his wounds closed." Quietly, he tried to remember what Bevy had put on his cuts and scrapes the time he fought with Fisher for the last time. Some white stuff. Silken. A spiderweb... cobweb... some kind of webbing. "Get some cobwebs, or spiderwebs. I think that will help seal the wounds after you clean them so Cancer doesn't get infected." He knew little of healing, but maybe just the basics if he really needed to. In a life or death situation, Azazel probably wouldn't be your first choice as a healer. Probably your last. All he knew was how to clean and seal. Best to be clean than to be ridden with disease in your vulnerability. His smoky lungs were forgotten for now. He didn't doubt the lion's healing capacity, perhaps, but he just wanted to be sure that the leopard didn't bleed out.

@Cancer