I must've fallen asleep.

Remedy could hear her heartbeat, the soft thrum bouncing off crystalline walls that felt both familiar and alien. Uncomfortble. She tried to shift and bend but found herself solidly pinned on her side. This wasn't right. She tried again and felt a flare of frustration. No, this still wasn't right. She wasn't a neonate. She was as old as these caves, or so it felt. So why...?

She must've been hurt. Eyes opened inside the shell to stare at the blurred light of red and green beyond. How? The memories leading up to whatever took her down were vague. She couldn't remember. Couldn't place it.

What could she remember?

Loss. Loss and heartache and pain. Suddenly, Remedy was overwhelmed with a surge of panic, and when she moved again, it broke the fragile glass that held her healing body in place.

She flared to life with damp feathers and fur, wings stretching out to balance her as she found unsteady footing on all four working paws. A quick gasp and sputter, and she felt well and stable again. Tired, but well, and stable.

She looked herself over. Wet and sticky, but otherwise perfectly healthy. No new scars. Not a dent or scrape or scratch on her, and she felt good as new- hungry though. Hungry.

And alone. How long had she been out?

Cure.

She didn't waste another thought to anything else. Her twin, her bond, became the forefront of her concerns. Her mind reeled trying to recall where he'd last been. Where? Where!?

"CUUUUUUUURREEE!"

Her voice felt raw but it still carried, lacking its usual singsong quality- replaced with desperation and urgency, meant to carry, not to sound nice. As well, she turned to that bond they shared, reaching out with a feeling like claws through dirt, and she turned to watch, and listen, and feel, for any sign that she wasn't alone.

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@Cure // All Welcome! You don't have to wait for Cure to post to join; this is just a shout-out to Ark letting her know I've brought Remedy back.

Zevruu was walking in Eridanus, a little out of place in the forest-y area. He was used to the stone and twinkling lights of Orion, but figured it was likely time to branch out. He wouldn't stay here long, though. Orion was his home, and he had been hesitant to leave it. But something had urged him to go, and so he went.

Walking into Eridanus, something caught his attention immediately. There had been a fire here, some time ago. Branches were charred and there were piles of ash and soot scattered everywhere. He skirted around the edge of the affected area and continued, into a place the fire hadn't raged through. A voice caught his attention, and he pricked his ears, listening. It was a clear voice, meant to spread throughout the area, and he blinked. Cure...He'd heard that name before, he was sure of it.

Cycles ago, many many cycles ago, he had met someone by the name of Cure. Right? It had been so long ago, he couldn't be certain. So much had passed since then. He wasn't sure of anything. Just that he'd been here a long time, longer than anyone else he'd met recently. But maybe there was someone around his age now? Maybe he wasn't the oldest here.

He continued walking until a strange sight made him pause. It was a creature unlike any other he's seen before. Red and black with wings and a beak. Slightly feline too, with hind legs and a tail that of a feline, save for the feathers at the base. It was clear that this creature, this...whatever it is, was the one making the sound. The one calling out.

He watched her, wary. Her claws were sharp, clearly capable of ripping through flesh easily. But she didn't seem like a threat. Judging by the broken crystal nearby, the same color as her horns, she had likely just hatched, having been encased in her gem for...who knew how long? After a moment of watching, he decided to speak.

"Who are you?" His voice clear of any stuttering, for he had stopped long ago. He had no reason to stutter anymore. He was confident, or so he looked. It was easy to fake confidence. Clear voice, head held high. Cycles of practice, alone in Orion, had helped. He never went into a chrysalis. He stayed, all throughout cycles of darkness and silence, waiting. Waiting for someone to show up, all while not wanting to come across anyone. And here he was, talking to someone. Someone who wasn't new, despite having hatched moments before. Someone who could be closer to his age, someone who knew what it was like to be in these caves for a long time. Someone like him, physical differences aside.

"Speech" l 'Thoughts' | @Remedy

The cat that answered her wasn't Cure.

Still, it was better already knowing she wasn't alone out here. Her home seemed alien to her now, charred and torched in places, and its growth so different... but this cat was familiar. Not as an individual, but in his shape. He wasn't fresh eyed, but tired and knowing in a tangerine gaze that was absolutely not any relation of hers.

But still, his was a comforting arrival.

"I'm Remedy." She greeted. "Who are you?" This felt familiar. Like meeting a new friend as a cub. Ugh. No time for warm fuzzies. She didn't want to be rude, so she sent her next call out entirely via their link, in hopes Cure would hear or feel it.

"I'm looking for my twin. Cure. Doesn't look like me. Way more cat and zero bird, but he's all I have." She fidgeted where she stood, anxious and damp and uncomfortable but unwilling to tend to herself before she located her twin.

The bond they shared demanded that much first.

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@Cure / @Zevruu

Zevruu's eyes stayed fixed on the creature. Remedy, as she called herself. He was silent for some time before speaking up. "Zevruu." He didn't speak further until she did, pausing for a moment. "Cure," he murmured, trying out the name. It was definitely familiar. He was certain he'd met someone by that name before.

"I have met Cure before, however many cycles have passed since then. I do not know where they are now." He thought back to that moment. Cure had made a mist cover the area, so he never got a good look at them. Perhaps there was a time they had made it go away, but he couldn't remember it clearly enough. Faint images of blue spikes protruding from a black feline's skull flashed in his mind, but he couldn't recall more than that.

"Why do you search for them?" He wasn't even sure why he was asking. What was the point? Who knew if Cure was even around. He hadn't seen them in many, many cycles. He vaguely recalled having just become full grown at that time.

His gaze raked over the creature again. "Are you alright?" She was fidgeting, and looked damp. It was almost as if she hadn't even taken care of herself after hatching. Was the need to find Cure really that important?

"Speech" l 'Thoughts' | @Remedy

"speech"
'Thoughts
Remedy Link
Tags: @Remedy
Ooc:

Long had he been asleep. Long had it been since he had felt the warmth of anything upon his fur. Darkness had consumed him, his memories bleak and far from mind as they seemed to fade with each passing moment the hybrid slumbered. Large paws moved, reaching forward in the cocoon that kept them within its protective grasp, yet still, nothing stirred the hybrid feline from his hibernation. At least, for the most part, nothing had disturbed him from the darkness until a voice shrieked, vibrating the cocoon of blue turquoise.

CUUUUUUUURREEE!

Bright blue eyes popped open, wide and alarmed as his now whirling mind spun erratically out of the darkness and back into consciousness. Confusion grasped at the beast and lungs instantly kicked into gear, causing the feline to take a sudden breath. The fluid was quick to fill their lungs and panic began to rise when Cure found that he could not breathe. He choked and sputtered, lashing about and twisting each way he could. Paws kicked and scratched at the cacoon in his desperate attempt to free himself from a place he had hoped never to find himself in again.

With one final kick of his back leg, the gem finally gave way, shattering all around and spilling forth the feline who slid free. A gut curling wretching came from the feline as his lungs desperately tried to expel the liquid that filled them. Mucus and plasma alike splattered against the ground in one final heave, leaving the feline gasping and wheezing to catch his breath. Legs trembled and pushed against the ground, but to no avail could Cure rise to his paws. Tears seemed to fill his azure gaze as memories came swarming back, but there wasn't a single one that explained why he had fallen back into his gem that now lay in shards all around.

"Remedy..." a hoarse voice murmured aloud, whimpering, calling for the second half of her soul. All the while her racing mind that was struggling to catch up with their rebirth, reached out for that familiar link shared with her twin. Nothing else seemed to matter to the feline as he struggled to rise to his paws, slowly dragging himself through the foliage that made up the floor of Eridanus. Not how he had come to be within his cocoon again, not the time spent up until that point. Not even the fleeting memory of a male feline she had once cherished swayed her desire to find that connection that had kept himself tied to Remedy.

'Remedy...where are you...

---

"Cure Speech" 'Cure Thoughts'
Remedy Link
Things Remedy can feel concerning Cure's emotions
OoC:
Tags:

The cat's name was Zevruu. He'd met Cure before. Remedy wasn't surprised, but was disappointed when he mentioned not having seen them in a while. An immediate dead end. Damn.

"Yeah, I'm okay, I just--"

"Remedy, where are you?"

"CURE!" She broke off suddenly, all but screaming the name as his voice finally entered her head at last. She could feel him. He wasn't far. He was alive and well, as if he'd suddenly appeared into existence again, a blip in the middle of her internal radar that suddenly sparked to life after being not but a void minutes before.

He'd been here the entire time.

Just like her.

Her heart all but broke as she turned her eyes unseeing towards where her twin had emerged, too far away to see him but pin-pointing his location as if she could, as plain as day.

"Sorry, I have to go to him." She mumbled to Zevruu, waving her tail in a passive invitation to follow- a way of saying he wasn't being ignored or tossed aside entirely- before she suddenly took to a surprisingly energetic sprint. "Cure!"

She came crashing through the foliage of Eridanus, though still charred in places as it was, until finally the black leopard came into view and she quite literally flung herself at him with a squeal of delight, a flurry of damp fur and wings.

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@Cure / @Zevruu

Zevruu jumped as Remedy suddenly yelled. He raised an eyebrow a she turned, staring determinedly at a single point in the distance. Was Cure here? They must be. He couldn't think of anything else that would make Remedy act in such a way. His thoughts were confirmed as she spoke. He was surprised, however, when she flicked her tail in an invitation to follow. As she bounded away, he hesitated. Did he want to follow? It's not like he had anything better to do...

He followed, walking quickly though he knew he had no hope of catching up with her before she met her target. Thankfully, when she had ran, she left an obvious path that he was able to follow without any problems. He came across the two of them not long after, and sat a distance away, giving them plenty of space.

"Speech" l 'Thoughts' | @Remedy @Cure

For a longer part of a moment Cure found himself unable to rise to his paws, didn't even bother to try as the weariness and weakness seemed to keep its hold on him. His mind continued to race, trying desperately to figure out why he was there, but most importantly what had put him right back into a shell he had really never wanted to be inside again. Nostrils flared as he continued to breathe in large intakes of air, filling his burning lungs to the max before giving them repose. Audits twitched, twisted and turned as they listened to the many sounds that were all too familiar to him. Home. He was home in Eridanus, but more importantly, it was the drumming of paws racing across the ground that ultimately drew his entire attention.

Sapphire eyes fluttered open, pupils dilating and then readjusting to properly see. With a grunt and a determined flick of his tail Cure finally shifted, pushing his front legs beneath his chest and put as much force into pushing himself up. Just as he was able to manage to get himself up into an awkward sitting position, legs wobbling and threatening to give out on him, a voice had finally reached his ears and soon a beast burst through the foliage and there was no amount of surprise when he was his twin in a blur before the hybrid slammed into him.

Cure grunted as his back hit the ground, but he was not knocked silly. Front legs were quick to wrap around the smaller creature, gripping his paws around his twin as he once again felt his eyes burn. He buried his nose in her fur and feathers alike and he held onto his twin without a word. What could he say at the moment anyway? How could he form an apology for once again having left his twin alone in the caves as he had done so before? A guilt had gripped tight in his chest, constricting and twisting every which way. He said nothing of it, already sure that Remedy could probably pick up on it. Still he would not use his voice, but instead, reached out to Remedy through their link that was growing stronger once again by the passing minute now that he was free of his gem.

Are you okay...what happened? How long.....how long was I asleep?

Finally, after a few more minutes of simply holding his twin to him, Cure finally released the hybrid and once again attempted to roll out from under Remedy and bring himself up to his paws. He needed to get back up and reaccustomed to his own paws it seemed. Once he was up, with no lack of quick nudges and nuzzles to Remedy, Cure found a moment to take a look at his surroundings. Trying to regain his memories of just where exactly in Eridanus they were. It was then that he took note of another feline who had situated himself a few paces away. Recognition flashed across his Sapphire eyes, but for the life of him, a name seemed to just flutter at the edge of his memory. Cure shook himself, sending drops of goop from his chrysalis in all directions and he grimaced as he already felt his fur becoming crusty with the stuff. He would need to go find the Eyes to bathe this off....again.

Eyes lifted, once again pinned on the feline not too far away and finally a gentle smile curved over his features. She remembered him, perhaps when he was a bit smaller than he was now, but he finally remembered. "Zevruu...how are you?" as Cure spoke he remained standing perfectly still next to his twin, not yet daring to brave a few steps just yet as he did not trust his own legs to work as they should. It was ridiculous how he felt as if he had just tumbled out of his Chrysalis for the first time. No matter, however, he was sure his body would remember just how old he really was and get back to working as it should.

---

"Cure Speech" 'Cure Thoughts'
Remedy Link
Things Remedy can feel concerning Cure's emotions
OoC:
Tags: @Zevruu

Cure's affections were returned tenfold, with clacking beak to slickened fur, hasty grooming session until the twin panged with guilt and thoughts towards her. Remedy shook her head, burying her face against the fur on his neck with a laugh.

I don't know. It doesn't matter. We're awake and together and that's all that matters. She pushed those absolutely sure thoughts his way and stood as he did, but she barely removed herself from being tangled against him, moving a talon to his back to hold him 'in place' as she continued her grooming efforts. He wouldn't need a bath after this; but she might.

She 'click click clicked' along his fur, cleaning the crusty residue away.

Zevruu found me just a few minutes ago. When he said he knew you, I thought I'd invite him once I found you.

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Remedy talks. Remedy thinks. Feelings Cure can pick up on.
@Cure @Zevruu