Not much had moved since the rocks fell on the shattered body of the snake. One could mistake strong movement recently; but they would quickly realise that the entire caves were also shaking with the pile of broken rocks. However, the earthquake did not do much to shake rocks off the pile on top of the snake.

Of course, however, moments before death would fall on Mordecai, the scarlet pryope gem on his back expanded and shielded him from the rocks. After that, however, everything went black.

There were no more thoughts about his brother, Henry. There was no more fear. No more horror. No more tears and no more regrets. There was only blackness and a deep unconsciousness. He did not know if his brother would make it out alive; but that in itself was a silly thing to hope for.

Henry was dead. There was nothing he could do.

It was over and he hated himself, but there was no hate in the blackness.

He felt himself awakening within the chrysalis. He ached and he couldn't see through the dark - he recalled very early memories of being able to make out his body, coiled up in his original chrysalis, but now he couldn't see anything.

He wasn't dead. This he knew, but he might aswell have been. Without Heinrich he had no hope of escaping the stone prison - he never did have any control over movement. For a moment, however, he was at peace.

And then the memories came flooding back.

The buzzing. His brother was drawn to it. Moving under a stalagmite. It fell - he saw it all. It fell and it went right through his brother's face - he saw, moments before impact, that his brother's smile stopped. Then the blood came-- oh god, the blood. Even with a needle-like rock impaling his brother's face it just wouldn't stop. It came out the top of his head, the hollow of his chin. Spewed out from his lips before the head fell completely limp.

He didn't get to say goodbye. He didn't ever get to tell his brother he loved him. All he ever did was think about how much he despised Heinrich and how much he wished that he would just go away, and that he'd never see him again.

He understood now what the phrase 'be careful what you wish for' meant now, and he was fairly sure this is what it felt like to hate yourself.

His head hurt. His whole face hurt. He couldn't remember a thing - or at least, that was a little untrue. He remembered his brother, Kerberos, Giggle and Dovefeather. He remembered Midas and Giggle and the boar in Cetus. He remembers Polaris, but only bearly.

He did not remember what happened before he died. He only knew that his head hurt and his face hurt. As he opened his eyes he thought, for a moment, that he didn't actually open them at all. It was so dark, but he knew his eyes were open. He opened his jaw. He closed it. He jerked his tail - it felt different. Heavier, somehow.

He looked up. He knew this place, the darkness; but he couldn't quite place it. The memory just wouldn't come to him - but he knew what he had to do. He had to get out. Was his brother here? No, of course he was. Morty wouldn't leave him alone in the dark. He would get scared.

He shifted in the cramped space he was in, pressing his head off against the ceiling, pushing with all his might. He noticed there was something on the sides of his head and something under his chin that tickled his body.

....fins?

Movement. He couldn't do it himself, but he could feel when it was happening. He knew what it meant - his brother was alive. Mordecai couldn't see him - he wasn't sure if he wanted to. He wasn't sure if he could. Even if he was miraculously healed, he couldn't forget what he had seen moments before Heinrich had died.

What was he doing? He was moving upwards against the chyrsalis? He pushed and he shoved and with a splintering crack they were free, but not for long.

Broken rocks fell on them the second they came out, toppelling them over. Mordecai couldn't see his brother once more - but this he was thankful for. He craned his head back, croaking out. "H-help! Help!"

It's cold out there... >>

So why not stay here, under my tail?

δεξιά . κέντρο . αριστερά protip;; click the >> in the lyrics to listen to the song that goes with this post

Kerberos had been hunting the zappy lizards by the river with a friendly enough wolf named Ghost. It had been a great experience, but something about the electric-charged blood of the lesser gembounds was making his stomach churn. He had put on three perfectly good faces for the blind white wolf, but now that they had departed he was wandering Polaris by his lonesome. The earthquakes that trembled through the heart of the caves did nothing to serve his nerves, either. He hoped that Ghost got out alright, but for some reason he kept trotting deeper and deeper, closer and closer to the rocks that fell periodically around the cave.

A noise hit the now fully grown dog's ears, and he felt almost paralyzed by the cry. Henry-- or Mordecai-- the small, brother of his that had been born wrong. A shiver crawled through his spine as he timidly approached the crumbling landslide of rocks, sniffing timidly. He could smell blood, but it was old, incredibly old. "Brother?" He practically barked in a whisper, for some reason his mind flooding with memories of dead sheep. Sheep that he hadn't saved. Worse images-- his dog brother, legs so badly damaged that Kerberos couldn't repair the pain with playful licks and cave rats.

He couldn't let the same thing happen to Henry, even if his instincts told him to kill the demented snake. His instincts could be wrong, after all. He pressed closer, and carefully tried to move the rocks with his forepaws and snout, trying to sniff his way to the snake buried underneath. "Are you there?" He breathed, his words not even in a whimper in his throats. No, he was scared of speaking too loud, of disturbing the earth so that it shook once more, killing another before he could help. He tried to focus on better things-- the Lorekeeper. He had saved her, hadn't he? "I'm coming, brother," he promised, doing his best to dig out the snake from the mess of rocks and debris.

"B-brother?!" came one voice - Mordecai.
"Kerby..?" came the other - Henry. A weak voice, weaker than it normally was.

It caused Mordecai to freeze up. He had intended to tell Kerberos everything that had happened - the rocks, the laughter, but the voice of his brother caused him to freeze, wide-eyed under the rubble. His brother was limp and unmoving - was he hurt? Did the rocks hurt him? He couldn't feel any injury to his body but he was sure that it was still possible that his brother's head could have been injured by a rock.

Henry couldn't see out of one eye. He wasn't sure why - it wasn't the rocks. It was something that had happened since he awoken. Kerberos told him he would be okay and he was sure okay was what he was going to be. He still didn't know where his brother was, but he couldn't be far.

They waited in silence otherwise to be freed.

@Kerberos

It's cold out there... >>

So why not stay here, under my tail?

δεξιά . κέντρο . αριστερά protip;; click the >> in the lyrics to listen to the song that goes with this post

At first the dog seemed cautious, digging methodically, sniffing with his noses for the scent of the snake. As soon as Henry and Mordecai answered, the canine seemed to snap into focus. His paws churned away more and more rocks, his teeth gritting tightly as he breathed in rough, heavy snuffs and puffs with his multicolored noses. He kept the memory of the Lorekeeper-- the thick violet fur, her five blinking eyes, safe and sound-- in the forefront of his middle head's mind. The crimson-nosed head, with his cropped ears, burned with the images of stones dropping from pristine, white wool. The last head, with his floppy ears, only thought of Bones. He dug, and dug, and dug.

As the canine dug faster and harder, the rocks shifted around him. It wasn't long before the rubble grew too uneven to support his own weight-- and he noticed it in the nick of time. With a bark of alarm, the canine shoved himself forward. Rocks crumbled, tumbling down on to his back, nearly burying him alive as well. He held there, paws trembling, as he held up the stones, keeping them from falling on his trapped brother. "Henry, are you okay?" He woofed, his voice ragged from the dust and dirt. Orange nose coughed, whining slightly, but managed to stifle the panic before it could spread to any other heads-- Kerberos' or the two headed snake. "Mordecai, brother, just hang on," he growled, deep and low. Determined. He wouldn't let his brother befall the same fate. He'd rather die.

The dog waited for the stones and rocks to stop falling, the weight heavy on his back. He wanted to retreat, to shake the earth off of his once-white fur... But for now he held his ground, protecting the snake. If he could just get his brother out, everything would be fine. He could do it, he could save them. Unfortunately, his paws were stuck now. He was already top heavy, and with the rocks over him, he would have to keep his feet firmly planted to avoid falling on top of his brother. Which meant he was stuck, for the time being. Unless he could... No. He couldn't risk that.

@Mordecai and Henry

Neither head were aware of what was going on above. Henry was the first to wheeze out a strangled reply. "My... my face hurts, Kerby." The wheedling voice caused Mordecai to wince.

He knew that it had to have hurt. He couldn't blame his brother for the pained tone in his voice - hell, it was a miracle he was even capable of speech, but he was hesitant to speak."I am fine."

There was a short pause before Henry spoke again.
"Morty?"
"What is it?"
"Where are you?"
"I'm close," there was a slight waver to Mordecai's voice. He dreaded to see the state his brother was in but at the same time he couldn't bare to be alone any longer.

He hoped that Kerberos would get them out soon.

@Kerberos

It's cold out there... >>

So why not stay here, under my tail?

δεξιά . κέντρο . αριστερά protip;; click the >> in the lyrics to listen to the song that goes with this post

Kerberos stood for a long moment, listening. He was afraid to try the magic that had, perhaps, killed the lamb. It made him stand there, uselessly, but he couldn't just wait for his strength to give out. Timidly, he reached out along his back, pressing his magic to his spine, and gave a great push. He would finish digging as soon as the danger was past, he told himself, eyes shut tight from the dust that filled his faces, choking his throat. If it was so bad for him, how horrible must it be bellow, in the prison of rocks?

Another gentle rumble, but nothing like the earthquakes. The rocks on his back tumbled off with the push of his magic, the rocks around him brushing away, freeing his limbs to move once more. He huffed, staring down at the stones bellow, making sure he hadn't pushed at the trapped two-headed brother. "Almost there," he woofed, putting his paws to work once more. They were large, almost as if made for the task of digging, and though the sharper rocks cut at his pawpads, at least his one pads was made of a large rock, smooth and flat and hard. It made the digging easier, at least.

He was almost to the ground by now, surely his brother was in there somewhere, surely he would be free. He kept digging, focused on his task, trembling as the smell of blood hit his nose more and more. Was it his own, or the snakes? He hardly cared, as long as his brother lived to see another day. As long as he could save him... or, them, as it were.

@Mordecai and Henry

Henry was the first to lift his head out the rubble. He was a rough sight - thick scars covered his face, jagged and ugly, scarlet and sore-looking. Mordecai lifted his head not too long afterwards and Henry slowly began to slither above the rocks.

Mordecai's gaze did not leave his literal headmate's face, even as Henry shifted to place his nose against the center-head's. "Th-thank you. Thank you. It hurts. Thank you," he murmured, The unscarred head was silent until he finally managed to pull his eyes away from his brother to look at his brother-with more heads, nose-tendrils twitching slightly.

"We were attacked," Mordecai wheezed. "It killed Heinrich."

The head in question head to turn his entire head to peer at his brother with one eye - the other, the left eye facing Mordecai, simply wasn't obeying him. The scars coated it. "What was it?" he asked - it was news to him, after all - he couldn't remember it. He died.

He received no answer but Mordecai shifted to press his head against the side of one of Kerberos' muzzles.

@Kerberos