The sound of water.

How long had it been there?

Gently existing in the haze of a static din, the only sound that he could know. Occasionally it would bubble and pop, a stream of carbonation fizzling against a part of him, touch - the second sense. He felt one leg twitch ever so slightly, the skin tightening in response to the sensation of the bubbles. The water would rumble as if some distant entity lingered beyond his realm. Every part of it was so familiar that when his mind had reawakened, he hadn't even thought that something wasn't right. He existed in this tiny, isolated plane, entirely enclosed, listening, feeling. He existed, and that was good enough.

And then another familiar feeling would seep in beneath his scales, nestling deep into his muscles. It was a feeling of restlessness. A need to move. To stretch. His claws unfurled and his digits flexed; the base of his tail shifted, and a long, trailing limb floated idly around him with the sloshing of the fluid. He was suddenly too big for this chamber. As comfortable as it was, he felt cramped. He felt claustrophobic. And when he opened his eyes, it was dark.

It sent his mind into a flurry of confusion. Suddenly everything was snapping back into place, and he was unexpectedly aware of what he should be experiencing, and what he was lacking. When he felt his heart squeezing in his chest, he inhaled - and there was a mouthful of stale water in his throat, in his lungs. It was too dark. And the sound of the water was too loud, consuming every inch of him as it splashed against his container. His frenzied muscles ached for release. He thrashed, silently screaming as his long nails scraped the gemstone in desperation to escape.

Somewhere beyond, a voice was calling out to him.

Something was pounding on the stone.

Something was shaking it, shattering it.

Something let the light in.

He had been cold for so long, and it was never changing. Even now, as he broke the surface and sucked in a breath, he was cold. It sunk in past his thick fur, past his fatty skin, into his very core - the cold clung to his bones like he had never known before. And yet, he would swallow it; his muscles shivered violently, pleading for the fire that so often enveloped him, and he would ignore the need and dive down again.

The water stung his eyes and he resisted the urge to close them. He couldn't - not until he found what he was looking for - what he'd been searching for ever since he had come alive again. The bear wasn't very agile in the water, and the current of the river helped to push him along, though it did mean he constantly had to resurface and paddle a ways back to continue searching along a different section of the river's rocky floor. The search felt futile, and some part of him was beginning to slate his comrade for dead. It wouldn't be hard to move on. He yearned so deeply for what he'd been apart from. But the bear was stubborn, and his heart would never find the closure it desired until he found at least some piece of evidence. Something.

He resurfaced again, gasping for the cold air that fizzled above the surging river. Blinking at the bright lights. Then back down, roving across the bleak rocks and the scattered, colourful stones along the floor. He plunged towards the bottom and pushed forward, squinting through the sting of the water.

All it took was a flash of pink.

Leon thought he had zeroed in on it. He thought he'd seen it, but as he tried to focus, the river took him away again. He pushed up, sucked in a breath, and came back. Searching furiously for the flash of pink, the gleam of muted light against its clean flesh coloured surface. It came upon him faster than he'd thought, and his weight collided with the crystal, prompting a growl from between his clenched teeth. Paws scrambled to grab a hold of it, but once he did, he clutched the chrysalis and held it tightly to him, trying to stare through its walls. Something dark shuddered inside.

He roared out a name. His voice was muffled and it wrenched precious oxygen from his lungs, and he slammed against the rock with his paw. The resistance of the water held him back, subdued his shouts, and he was running out of breath. He wouldn't lose this. Leon re-positioned himself, pushed off into the current, and allowed it to carry him back towards the chrysalis - he slammed against it, and some part of the chrysalis jarred from its spot. Over and over again he collided with the pink crystals until it began to dislodge from the rocks. As he felt the current begin to pull the chrysalis too, he clung to it again, wrapping his massive body around it - it was big too, bigger than he'd thought, bigger than he'd remembered - and attempted to pry chunks away with his teeth.

The air in his lungs was quickly thinning. Even his vision was blurring and he rumbled, slamming his paws against the chrysalis, kicking at it, shouting.

A massive crraaaaack exploded from the chrysalis, loud enough even that through the hum of the rushing water, it startled him.

The chrysalis broke away from its root, and it and the bear tumbled through the current. He grasped it in his arms and tried to push himself to the surface. Shards of pink sloughed away until nothing was revealed but the thrashing reptile gestating inside, fighting against Leon's grip. Sharp claws carved through his thick pelt with ease, but Leon persisted until he had hauled the both of them onto the shore.

Fluid erupted from the reptile's mouth. He was gargling, choking and writhing on his back, whip-like tail lashing and striking everything in reach.

"Ghanyarah!" Leon stood over him, shivering, shouting his name.

Wake up.

The water, even as it sloshed, felt still. Even as he struggled. Even as he sat curled into himself, choking on the fluids, drowning in his own chamber, it was still.

Something was beginning to pound on the walls. He barely noticed; his consciousness was flickering in and out. He pushed against the walls with both arms, scratching against the crystal, but nothing worked. He cried out, but no words came. An animal wail squealed from his closing throat.

And then the light came flooding in. All at once the barrier was broken down as cracks crawled up the sides of the chrysalis and crumbled away, and the stillness of the water disappeared in favor of the pulling of the current. The river was louder, screaming in his ears, the force of its movement painful on his eyes that bulged and flitted, searching for explanation. Something massive had replaced the chrysalis. He wanted to wriggle free, but weakness was already stiffening his muscles.

A piercing cold shot through him as they emerged from the river, electrifying him. The reptile slammed into the ground and writhed, his long tail slapping the dirt and rocks and the bear, coiling in pain. On his back, something that wasn't there before folded beneath his weight, and his head jerked. The stones that sprouted from his forward clanged painfully against the rock. His mouth gaped with the sensation, and he was trying to breathe through all the fluid in his lungs. He couldn't.

Ghanyarah!

He squeezed his eyes shut. His heart was fluttering now, feeling like it was too big for the cage of bones in his chest. One arm folded in and he clawed at the skin, as if to try and open up his lungs.

Ghanyarah, stop!

His other arm shot out and pushed the bear away. He rolled into his side, flailing madly, and then flipped onto his stomach. The force of landing was enough to push the rest of the water from his lungs, pouring out of his mouth onto the dirt below.

"Ghanyarah, breathe! Can you hear me? Ghanyarah!"

The reptile heaved, and heaved again. There was nothing in his stomach to bring up. There hadn't been anything there for a long time. But he could breathe - and he sucked in a long breath, coughing, cherishing the coolness of the air. Once he could breathe, he began to feel everything else. The stiffness in his joints, and the pain throughout his whole body, and the fresh wounds he had opened in his chest, and the new and changed parts of his body that were never there before.

His eyes widened. He was changed.

What happened to him.

The reptile was struggling, drowning in the fluids held in his lungs - and Leon didn't know what to do. He tried to help, he did. He didn't know how he could. He shouted the reptile's name to try and bring him back, he tried to push his chest, to push the water out, but was slapped away. He'd never felt so useless. He couldn't just watch him die again.

But as he rolled over, Leon could see water gush from his mouth and hear the sputtering the creature adjusting to the sudden lack of water in his lungs. He stood back for a moment as Ghanyarah stilled, and then bumbled around the lizard to stand in front of him, crouching down and scanning his face with a look of worry. His fur was dark and drenched, coming together in long, dripping points; water slid down from his pelt and collected in a pool beneath his paws, reminding him of the chill that set into his bones. None of that mattered so long as the reptile was alright.

"Can you hear me?" He ventured gently.

The reptile's stunned eyes shifted to meet Leon's, but he said nothing.

"Can you breathe okay? Are you okay? Ghanyarah." The bear repeated his name, hoping that something, anything, would bring him out of this daze. They were both silent for another long minute before Leon saw his throat swallow, his mouth part, as if trying to speak.

"Hhhhh..."

Leon pursed his lips, expectantly shifting closer.

"...hhh... what hhhhappened...?"

It was a mess. What had happened, however long ago it happened - he only remembered pieces of it himself. Tiny shards reflective of faces, words, images that flitted through his mind. Leon sat up, one paw folding against his stomach while the other rubbed his face tiredly. He hadn't realized until now how strained his muscles were. How he only wanted to sleep, despite however long he'd been sleeping for already. "You were in a chrysalis. You changed." The bear's voice strained and he cleared his throat. In the back of his mind, he wondered if anything about himself had changed too.

"How."

Leon shook his head. "You... drowned... in the river." The bear answered disjointedly. He turned his head to look back - the dam, crawling with golems as always. Somehow, they hadn't gotten to Ghanyarah. They hadn't gotten to him either. Beyond the dam... Leon tried to remember.

The flash of a face. A sloped nose, and hollow, blind eyes.

Ghanyarah seemed to remember too.

"Where is she."

The bear pushed out a sigh and slumped his shoulders. "I don't know. I don't even know how long it's been."

The reptile's eyes fixated on him again, confused.

"She got me too." Piece by piece, he was putting it back together. "After I saw her going after you, I tried to stop her. They made me sick... so sick. I couldn't move. I'm sorry. I watched her take everything from you, and I watched you drift away." Leon told him bitterly. "And I... I don't even know how... the only thing I remember is everything going dark. And dreams. I remember her in them." The bear raised both paws to his face now and he closed his eyes, but she was there. Watching him. Even if just from afar, she was there, watching with those blind eyes. Knowing.

"She tried to kill us... I don't know how long it's been. I don't know where everyone is. All I could do was try to find you."

Polaris. It was the place where they had fought the great dragon, the place where Dragon had nearly died. The place where he had nearly died too. It was a place of power, of surging strength and magic. He could feel it in his blood every time he was here.

The spire had drawn him in. He'd only come to survey the vast core, to look for Eve, or Gracie, or... anyone. He had stopped at the river for a drink and a bath. Something about the crystal clear water felt refreshing, even though it wasn't the water he preferred. When he heard shuffling, he thought it might have been his friend. Or even Arkrael. Mammals' feet had a way of moving softly, quietly. Ghanyarah hadn't thought anything of it, and he was arrogant for it, readily assuming that he could have defeated whatever it was that crossed his path.

It wasn't until he felt a turn in his stomach that he looked at what had approached. He'd never seen her before, but something about her felt familiar. Like maybe she could have been someone that lived in the swamp with them. She looked fragile, the decrepit, pallid dog, and she struck without even moving. He felt something crawling in him, all over him, and then he couldn't move. The bear had come running to his aid, and they crippled him - a second one, an orange one. Was it really them? The memory flickered. She was so hungry. She ate him alive.

Leon's story had brought it all back and Ghanyarah hissed, his visage twisting into something fresh with disdain. He could remember it now, the sensation of losing everything. Losing the function of his legs and tail and neck, and the frozenness of his muscles. Losing his sight and his hearing. Losing his own heartbeat. The only thing he'd felt was the water carrying him away, and then death. Every emotion that once lay dormant inside of him sprung to life, and standing taller than them all was rage.

How badly he wanted to destroy her for how weak she had made him feel.

But he was without direction. And the bear that sat before him was shaking, and crying between the toes of his paws that hid his face, and Ghanyarah didn't know what would remain of his home if he went back.

He was afraid to find out.

For once she felt secure enough to travel from Cetus and leave her children alone. They growing, they were older, and they had learned about the harshness of the caves. Since birth she'd told them of its taint and of the creatures within that only wanted to kill and to destroy. For now, they would be alright to live be left alone. The lioness needed to travel away for a bit, to scour Polaris and find that garden of Dormire flowers. The boar was staying with them for the time being and if he was going to stay then she needed a reserve of herbs for him and well, honestly, anyone else that became injured. She'd never really been a healer but more of a helper but perhaps it was high time that she learned. Despite her want to change she could never entirely turn her back on others, she always wanted to help. Perhaps it would be her end, who knew? It wasn't as if she particularly cared if anything happened to her. She only lived through selfish need and to help her learn and grow... that was all. Everything else she used to love was gone, destroyed by the caves.

Once a sigh would have heaved through her jowls at the terrible thoughts but now she didn't even flinch at them. They were common place, something that always plagued her mind through every waking moment and sometimes in her dreams. When she wasn't dreaming of everyone dying... she was dreaming of him and how things used to be which was honestly more awful than any death she could imagine for them all. When she was happy in her dreams and then woke to remember that she was all alone... it was all the more terrible. A bitter frown was on her face as she traipsed through the rocky landscape of Polaris, eyes set on the trampled down village in the distance.

Until...

She heard something.

One ear twitched off to the right as she heard the sound of some sort of commotion, gems speaking in what seemed like an agitated tone. Distressed souls? Or lost ones in this terrible place? Did it even matter? It was none of her business. Her was about to twitch around to the front again when she heard... a voice. One that seemed familiar. She stopped, head cocking as she listened. In her current state of mind she thought someone was mocking her or at the very least had a very similar voice to him. Still, when it came to her mind who the voice sounded like she whipped her head around, blue eyes focusing on the pair in the distance.

Her eyes widened, staring as she saw the brown fur and the large spire of obsidian coming from his shoulder. There was no way. No way in Origin that it was him. Her heart quickened its pace, the organ had been all but dead for cycles since the death of her family and her murder of Arkrael, but now it seemed to work in overtime. She took one step in their direction, eyes all on the big brown bear. She listened to them, not focusing on what they were saying but rather the tone of voice. Part of her didn't want to believe because what had she taught herself in all this time? Nothing ever worked out so well. Everything was bad. In the end, nothing mattered.

But what was this?

Another step and she was slightly closer but still too far away to say anything that would be heard. Under her breath she choked out the words, the ones she hadn't said since before everything fell apart around her. "L... L... Le...on?" It was a strangled sound, only heard by herself. His head was lowered now, crying in between the toes of his claws. It hurt her. He was upset... She should go to him. Had he been hurt? Was his absence because he was injured?

If anyone has hurt him I'll rip them in two. She'd killed once and she wasn't afraid to do it again if necessary. She was not the same cat that she once was, something had hardened in her and changed.

But that love for her one true soulmate would never wain.

She still didn't want to believe, so many times she'd been disappointed but she could not turn away from this vision. If her mind had finally gone completely then she would welcome it if just for a moment to hear his voice again and if she was lucky touch his fur to hers. She walked forward, her paws almost silent as they approached the pair. Blue eyes were locked upon him until finally she stopped a few paces back, afraid that if she stepped too close he would disappear and she would be lapsed into the caves alone again to suffer more of her self-depreciating thoughts. "Leon?" Nothing else came to mind. Just his name and in that moment it was all she needed. If this was him and not some impostor then it would show now.

_____________

words| 853
tagged| Leon, Ghanyarah
ooc| ---
muse| 10/10

"Talking looks like this!"
Thinking looks like this...

The silence settled in between them, but Leon wished that the reptile would say something. Anything to cut through the sound of his own quiet sniffles and huffs. Anything to reassure him, or remind him of something good, to give him some kind of hope... but Ghanyarah never was very sociable, as far as Leon knew. Wishing for something like that of him was futile. Even knowing this, he just... he wished that he could reach out for something warm, something good. He didn't know where to find it.

When he opened his eyes and peered through his toes, he was surprised to even see the reptile still laying there in front of him. Leon grimaced and rubbed his face.

He hadn't even time to think of something to do or say when something in the corner of his eye had taken him. Dropping his paws back to his chest, he turned. And he saw her. And all that warmth and good that he had wanted from Ghanyarah was severed, manifesting itself in the face that he had found himself missing the most.

It all came bubbling up from him like the hot steam of a geyser, uncontrollable in its resurgence. For as long as he had been asleep, or dead, he hadn't felt anything. He hadn't been able to. There was no thoughts or longing, no love or sadness or memories. But even in the absence of everything that usually drove him, she existed. When he had first broken out of the chrysalis, he couldn't remember. He had so much love. The cave was dim and the river filled his head - the river, the water that was home, and his heart was yearning. Maybe he thought that it was Ghanyarah, whose pink slivers he had seen littering the dirt. Or he had been afraid that whoever owned this love in his heart, that they had withered and gone. He knew it was there, but where had it come from?

Seeing her there had sparked the memory.

"Makyna!" He clumsily rose to his paws, wavering in exhaustion, and then he could only stand and stare and try to comprehend. A jumble of emotions seized up his thoughts. He was happy, and he was relieved, and he had so much love. But the numbness of his dormancy hadn't faded away. All the emotions he knew were present were muted, and while they consumed him, he couldn't pick them apart. They were beginning to fade into each other like a swarm of grey.

Why did she look so sad?

If this was some sort of an illusion then it was an elaborate, one crafted by some sort of sick individual. In any case the image did not fade, he was standing there. Looking at her in disbelieve just as she stared back at him... but it was he. If it wasn't then she was falling right into whatever trap that some sick individual had crafted.

But she didn't care. If this was some sort of purgatory after death and he was here with her then she would welcome death.

The big bear didn't approach her first but that was okay. After wandering for so long without a purpose, without love to give he didn't have to act first.

Her name from his mouth was a strange thing but it sounded so natural spoken on his tongue. It had been so long since she'd associated herself with it. "Makyna". Was that still her? If this was really Leon and that name, spoken with so much love. It was. He could call her whatever he wanted and she would answer him. Forever she would go to him. Just as she did now.

Her paws carried her closer, past the giant lizard, and right up to him, to Leon. Her eyes stared into his amber orbs, searching, staring. "Is this really you? Or is my mind torturing me again?" A paw reached out, gentle, as it came close to brush along the fur of his arm. The warmth, it was there... It really was him. "You...? You're... Alive?" Her voice cracked, a strangled sob escaping her throat as tears began to pool in her blue eyes.

So many more emotions were forming within her gut. Love. Happiness. Relief. Sadness. Anger. It was all there, forming a painful assembly within her body. Her head lowered as she began to sob, the broken sounds echoing around the room. She came closer, an attempt to brush herself against him and fall into his fur just as she used to. "I thought you were dead... Why did you leave? Where did you go? What happened?" She knew it was not his fault. Knew it deep in her heart but still. For so long she thought he was dead but he was not. Where had he been? It was stupid of her to think otherwise but part of her, the part she'd tried to tamp down, whispered that he'd left her.

"I've been so alone..."

_____________

words| 409
tagged| Leon, Ghanyarah
ooc| ---
muse| 10/10

"Talking looks like this!"
Thinking looks like this...

He was trying to make sense of her when she came closer. The way she moved was indicative of something that had changed. The way she looked, the way she spoke his name like it had hurt coming up. She moved past Ghanyarah, and the reptile shifted only slightly before sliding out of the way, a poisoned look flitting back at them ever so briefly. Leon didn't even know what to say to him before Makyna was right in front of him, and her blue eyes - clear, crystal like the water that had swallowed them up, glistening and oceanic like home - stared up into his own. She stared at him with disbelief. He'd been gone. He'd been gone for so long.

And yet it barely even occurred to him how long it had been. It felt like he'd died only moments ago, and all the visions and fever dreams were just that - dreams. They felt like they spanned an eternity, and yet when he woke, only seconds had gone by. But that... that wasn't the case this time.

When her voice broke, he felt a crack in his own heart. Instinctively he raised his paws around her, to hold her and draw her in close. The muddied emotions were just as quickly quelled by the surge of love that compelled him to protect her. To fix her. To destroy everything bad and to make her feel good again, like he'd always tried to do. She cried and though he felt the moisture welling up in his eyes too, he fought it back down. He had already done his fair share - inspired by helplessness, vulnerability. But now he was back, and Makyna was here, and his own confusion didn't matter anymore. He would heal her.

Wrapping his massive arms around her, Leon drew her in closer and sunk his nose into her neck. She spoke of how she thought he was dead. The words were like ice and he didn't want to hear them, but he couldn't deny their heaviness. It only confirmed what he'd felt himself. That he'd been dead, and that it had been a long time.

"I-I'm sorry... Makyna..." How could he begin to explain when he barely knew what had happened himself? "I don't know. I would never leave you. I never meant to leave you. I always meant to come back." He squeezed her tighter, rubbing his face against her coarse, sandy fur. "I was only trying to protect him. They made me sick, Makyna. I happened so quickly. I'm sorry. I'm sorry, I never meant to go."

He sucked in a long, quivering breath.

"H-how long... has it been?"

He was still lost for words when the lion had appeared. Ghanyarah raised his head to peer over at her, and a brief moment of recognition flickered behind his eyes. He had known her from somewhere. From something... big. Whatever it had been, she had been caring and kind. But it didn't even matter what she had done; like the bear, he craved something stable. He wanted something warm. He was hopeless and lost and he had nothing left and he wanted something. His head tilted slightly, wondering, almost hoping that she was here for him - but her eyes were on the bear, and that was when it had clicked. She was a healer, and she was the bear's. He had seen them together.

Ghanyarah backpedaled as they reunited. There was a flare of jealousy, if only because the bear was all he had just moments ago - and because the lioness, she was kind - and he was still lost. He briefly caught Leon's gaze and recognized the poison in his own eyes, blinking it away and turning his back to them. He had nothing here.

So he would leave them to their reunion and hope, pray even, that his friends would be waiting for him back in Cetus.

exit Ghanyarah!