Where dreams have died

Time Freeze and World Jumble

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The daze from sleep finally began to wear off at the peak of dawn. The air was rich with salt. Sea spray stung Taikon's chapped nose, dry from dehydration. His head spun; he did not remember coming to this place.

Over his head was a single, miserable tree that spired beyond his line of vision. He could hear gulls and cormorants chattering and squawking in intervals as the rush of waves echoed from beneath him.

Raising his head, he licked his lips and stared. Beyond the ground he could see the ocean, but a strange fog blocked the view at a distance. Taikon stood. His legs barely supported his weight under him, as though he had not walked for many weeks. As his elbows shook, he blinked and wandered forward, looking to the east.

He could see Northfall, the great mountain he had thought of joining. He couldn't remember why he had wanted that. As the aging wolf peered beyond the edge of the island, he saw a sheer drop that made his heart plummet. He paced the other direction, but could not see a platform or way down.

How had he gotten here?
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below it, the sea churned.

"help!"

she'd come into being below the waves, eyes opening just to close, lungs drawing in just to sputter.

"help!"

pushed forth by the cruel womb waters, fear soaking the marrow which the brine couldn't reach.

"he-!"

a wave clapped over her tiny form, pulling her down.

mama!
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help!

Like a fire had been lit under him, his heart raced with heat. The sound hooked into an ancient part of him; he, like many who had known children, could not ignore it even if he had tried. Dull golden eyes searched the dark waters below for a sign of life. The cries could barely be heard over the raging sea, but there had been no mistake in his hearing.

The moment he spotted the pup, he flew into action as though he were many years younger. He didn't know why or how he knew he could survive the jump, he just... jumped. Something about the air that surrounded him seemed to slow his descent, and by some miracle, he was unharmed when he reached the waters. They were cold. He plunged into the waves and after the dark shape; he had only seen the pup's head push out of the water.

Thankfully, he had long been a strong swimmer even in his poor condition. He pushed under the water, searching with his nose and paws wildly for whatever he had seen and heard. The water prevented him from finding his target by scent.

Time stood still. Had any been watching, they would have been sure that both had perished. Yet from the waters Taikon rose with a small bundle grasped in his jaws, holding it above the water as he paddled to what he thought was the direction of shore.

Somehow, Taikon dragged what he thought was a black and white wolf pup to shore and promptly fell to his side, wet and panting and miserable. “Ah...” He had to catch his breath. “Are you okay?”
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and below the waves, the girl realised, she could not recall the face of her mother.

the terror swallowed her like a black throat.

when teeth closed about her form, she expected a downward pull, descent into cold waters that had birthed and hated her so.

instead, air and light invaded her senses, as she was lifted out the reach of cruel water.

still the fear did not abate. each time a wave clapped her, each time her saviour faltered, she thought this were a brief thing, a small act of false mercy meant to enhance the despair of losing it.

she were near-unaware of when he reached land, scaled the island, and the thud of her own body against firm ground frightened her. it, at least, startled her body into expelling water.

the yearling coughed, vomited, and the question went unanswered for long minutes of readjusting to safety of land.

but finally, her insides told her the threat was lessened, and she exhaled all the terror out of herself.

her salt-encrusted eyelids finally lifted.

without memories, she had only familiarity to rely on, and it told her these lands were wrong. her head whipped this way and that, until finally it turned to the right, and saw a sodden man by her side.

she gasped, then raised a paw up to her muzzle.

"so- sorry." the girl coughed again, her voice strained. "i didn't- i forgot-"

brows knit together. she'd forgotten quite a lot.

"sorry, sir." another sigh. "thank you for saving me."
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For simplicity I edited my last post so that Taikon actually swam back to the floating island - this way we can have them meet up with Vedetta more easily; note to Roslyn that we are joining the new thread you put up!

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It took the pup a long time to respond to him, to the point where he was concerned for their safety. It took so long, in fact, that Taikon noticed the "wolf" pup he had pulled from the sea was... strange. Odd patterning was something he had seen before, but as the little beast dried off, he saw indeed that it was not wolf at all.

It had been firmly rooted into him to be fearful of all things that resembled dogs. His background with the Farukan Kingdom had shown him the cruelty that humans could inflict. Even small and hideous ones like this one could bring trouble as humans sought after their beloved companions.

He also knew they were stupid.

But, as the animal sputtered and struggled to make proper words, Taikon was not sure what to do. Should he throw the thing back into the sea from whence it came? How had it gotten all the way here in the first place? He knew humans were nowhere near Northfall, though he wasn't sure anymore if the mountain he'd been looking at earlier even was Northfall.

The old male did not have time to worry about it, however. @Vedetta's familiar cries began noisily clattering through the air, and Taikon realized that, somehow, he had managed to swim to the shoreline of an island that was floating in mid air. This did not make sense. Was it a dream?

“Come - I have to go.” It was a short and quick demand. Perhaps in his age, he had grown soft. He seemed unable to leave a soggy human companion to die, though he would have done so without hesitation in the past. Rising, he shook his coat and promptly took off toward Vedetta's voice, expecting the strange mutt to be in tow.
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another girl's fearful voice rose in the near vicinity.

for all the lack of recollection, for all the terror and cold and biting salt - something in this child pulled her attentions towards those hurt and afraid, as if her own hurts were none.

she nearly overtook the man when he moved, unshaken coat weighing her down as she ran by his his long strides.

she remembered nothing, except that she had to help.

moving to the other thread~

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