Love, I Have Wounds

@Krueger private for now might open once krueger is in the picture!

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The boy had long since embraced the silence of his pit. More often than not it was only him spare for what time @Eris could provide or what remedies @Err brought, but nothing really changed. Pest found ways to keep himself occupied, though to any Nightwalker he probably looked foolish. Weak. Pathetic. A boy lucky enough to live playing with trinkets.

Maybe it was fortunate that the only world he knew was the one in the pit.

Unfortunately for him, he did not know what horrors awaited and his ambitious youth placed a desire to see beyond the ledges that loomed over his home. His body never fully healed, but it did grow. If he was strong enough, maybe he could actually manage to clamber out on his own... but he never tried.

Today he sat by what little water ran through with a long-since gutted rabbit. From the stomach spilled colorful rocks; prizes he'd sort in the glinting sun so that they might reflect on the water or rocky walls. They were probably his favorite collection to play with and for that reason, he always took care to keep track of them. Any time he finished a game he'd sit there and sort until he was absolutely sure none were missing.

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 Krueger grew restless in the small walls that enclosed him. It felt like a cage, almost. Of course, he knew he was free to go at anytime, but he was still gathering himself as a growing individual. Sometimes he grew too tired over a certain period of time and would need to rest. Now he was waking up from one of those long naps. The afternoon sun leaked in through the mouth of the room where he'd been raised. A small yawn came from the nightmare as he rolled from his sleeping position into a sitting one, casting a glance around. No one seemed to reside except for him. With that notion, the boy set for the outside world that awaited. 

 The boy had been walking for a little while, chasing small creatures when he got the chance and missing them by a single few steps. Squirrels running up trees and gophers diving into holes. Laughter echoed from the part of the forest that he traipsed through, trudging without cause. The thrill of the hunt always excited him. It also brought the animals to attention whenever he cackled aloud as soon as he got near the prey. It was being a nuisance, but he couldn't help how enthralled he was with hunting. Only when he grit his teeth together did he manage to catch anything. But the point of the chase today was to merely torment whatever crossed his path. 

 A waft of decay rolled through with a small push of the wind. It wasn't fresh, but now soiling into the air, enough for it to be strong. Krueger's nose twisted at it and his whole route changed course, sniffing out whatever it was. The boy had a interest in things that were long dead and alive. He found the act of dying more intriguing than anything. Seeing how long a creature could take pain or torment before it simply ceased to exist. 

 When the destination had been reached, it was not only the body of a long dead rabbit, but also a boy who sat with it. Gutted and left for the sun to dry, they'd sprawled the creature out. Part of him lit up — someone else who was fascinated by death and decay? "Are those rocks in there?" The boy asks, walking over as if he was an old friend, not noticing the way he was decorated with various losses of fur, honed in on one thing only. "I like your friend." The nightmare gestured to the rabbit with his paw.

@Pestilence
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The boy had been too focused on the task at hand to realize his visitor coming until a shadow loomed over him. The voice that followed was unfamiliar and it drew his gaze slowly until he found the darkened face of another. He wasn't one of his siblings, even if he hadn't seen them in so long @Famine looked nothing like this boy...which...meant there were other kids? In his solitude, he had assumed they were the only ones, but a small spark of hope lit within him as he stared at the lip of the pit.

In his daze, Pestilence almost forgot to answer him. The other held his paw out gesturing to the toy his mama had brought. By now it was...well-loved, meaning the poor thing was battered and thinning, but it seemed to do its job as a rock pocket well enough. Eventually, he'd find his voice, even if the words were hoarse as he mustered a response, “Uhm...yeah. I've been collecting them.” His tail gave a slow beat against the dusty ground at the compliment as he possessively pulled the rabbit closer. “He holds them for me.”

He almost didn't dare look up again, unsure what to say after so long away from other pups. No one came into his pit except @Err and even then it was brief. @Eris only loomed at the edge and watched. It was for the good of everyone or something, but the pit didn't really do any good for him. He still ached. His nose still ran. He was always itchy, but if this was the home his mama gave him then he had to live in it.

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 Upon closer inspection — Krueger could tell the boy was riddled with patches of fur missing, bugs popping up and down off him, and blood splattered across various parts of him. He was also frail, like the kind of bones that rabbits' held. The boy's nose twisted at this, but he didn't move away. What was the worst some little bugs could do? 

 And as small as he was, his voice matched the same littleness as the rest of him. There was a softness that Krueger felt for him. Maybe it was because he had exhibited the same likes that the nightmare he enjoyed too. Or just because he was his age and a Nightwalker, bound together by titles alone. "Ohhh, they're pretty cool." Ichor eyes shifting to the boy's paws that pulled the rabbit a little closer. "Oh, I'm not gonna take it." He said with certainty in his voice. But nonetheless, slid a little away from him as if to prove a point. "I have a rabbit like that at home, too. A few actually but, I never put rocks in them.. Or anything. I like your idea, though." He planned to put the idea to use. Imagine the kinds of cool bones he could keep now!

 Sitting in the pit, just a few steps away, Krueger's back paw reached up to scratch behind his ear. "So, uh, does he have a name?"

@Pestilence
 

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misc skill: hoarder
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His stare burned.

It wasn't unkind, but he would feel his gaze linger almost uncomfortably so. Maybe it was actually him and how unsocialized he had become, but how was he to know? Pestilence knew little. Just the dirt and stone of an isolated world.

“Oh...”

He wasn't sure why it had been his first assumption, but the rocks and hide were one of his few possessions. He had no reason to trust, just as he had no reason to distrust another's advances. However, even with the boy's assurance Pestilence would keep his prize close. It brought comfort though to know he had no reason to take what was his, even if he hated thinking more than one of his toy existed...not that it had been hard to make.

A sickly gaze had crawled from the boy's feet to his face as he kept his head hung low. Despite being wild animals, he likely looked a degree of feral even to wolves. Once more he'd be left speechless as he offered a small nod in acknowledgment. A name...he'd never thought about one really. His collection differed enough to call each thing as it was and for the most part, only he ever saw them. Pest's hind leg slowly rose to scratch at his side while he thought.

Was...he supposed to have one?

With little thought put into it, he'd decide it was better if he did makeup one. If...he was supposed to anyway. “Rio.” It would do. He supposed he didn't really care to think beyond picking the first thing to come to mind. “What about yours?”

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 Even for Nightwalker standards, this kid looked wild. Untamed eyes that acted as if they'd never seen another wolf before. Or the light of day. All of the other seeped with something sickly, not that Krueger cared, he rarely cared about anything of the sort. Sick was not something he'd ever been. So he didn't have to worry. 

 Rio. Interesting. Krueger kept his distance in the pit, but examined the dead thing from far away. It didn't really look like a Rio, but what did he know. "Well, let's see... There's Gutless, No-Eyes, and then Loud Mouth." His canines poked out in a smirk, naming them each from their experiences into the unknown plane after life. "Real special fellows. Used to be anyway. Now they just hang in my den." He snickered. 

 The nightmare looked around the pit. It didn't look like there was much to do rather than brood or for the kid just to play with his rocks. "So, uh, what do you do around here? Ever get outside of this hole in the ground?" He asked, kicking at a rock that wasn't one of Pest's special ones. It seemed pretty boring in here, especially if Krueger was right in his assumption that no one really ever came here, that the kid had never seen another wolf. Of course, he was probably exaggerating. Someone had to come see him, right? It's not like something as weak as the other boy looked could hunt on his own, or even get out of the pit alone. 

 

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misc skill: hoarder
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Gutless, No-Eyes, Loud Mouth.

Maybe he had picked the wrong name, but if he had the other didn't suggest as much. “You don't play with them?” Weren't they prizes? A toy? Why leave them gathering dust? Then again, he had been safe here in the pit. Lonely maybe, but with nothing to fear. No one to take his prize. Maybe it was different for him. He could see the other scanning his home, eyes uninterested as a rock was kicked. Were their worlds truly so different that his felt lacking?

“I am here for my protection... Or others.” He wasn't fully sure honestly. He was a good boy and did as he was told. If that meant living in a hole then he would do it. “It's for the best.” Words recited to him too many times now. He could only assume it was true. “I dig for prizes or pieces to make games. If I'm not playing I sleep and wait for the pain to stop. Mama brings food or Err for checkups.”

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 Krueger's head tilted to the side at the question, as if he were a child confused by something — which indeed he was. 'Play with them?' The thought ran through the little nightmare's mind. The only time he played with his toys was when they were interesting enough to stay alive longer than the last. And well, the trophies that he kept lived true to that statement, otherwise they'd be tossed to the vultures, — or seemingly Voorhees, who half the time acted like a scavenger. And they were best left for trophies, secret hidden ones that none of his siblings would take. There was no real time to play with them, even if he thought to do so. "No, not really. Don't want them to get lost or... taken." It wouldn't be the end of the world, but it would certainly suck and be cause for him to leave rotting flesh underneath their pillows. And then, the boy concluded of why Pest had been so protective over his toys in the first place. They shared the same feeling of losing them. 

 Still, Krueger didn't understand why he was here. Sure, he had some blood on him and he looked like he hadn't slept in days... Okay, and maybe he smelled weird. Like a mix of decay with something he couldn't quite put his paw on. As the boy talked, he realized that what that smell was akin to sickness. Err meant someone was hurting or plagued with something. Now Krueger shifted in his position, but didn't move himself out of the hole. "Hm.. So you... just stay here 'cause your mom told you? Do you hurt now? I can show you what's around this pit in the ground." He could help push the other out of the hole, and he could be free for a little while, like kids should be. "We could be back before your mom even thinks to check."

 

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misc skill: hoarder
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Pestilence would say nothing as his eyes fell back to the dirt. Krueger didn't need to explain further, he knew the feeling already even if he had only become acquainted with it today. However, his words only proved that he was right to be careful. Raising a paw he'd gnaw at his ankle almost absentmindedly as the other...offered him something different. He wasn't sure what to do with the opportunity. He wasn't exactly used to having that kind of choice...

With a heavy sniff, he'd release his leg and lick his lips. The offer was...tempting...and he did feel well enough to be up right now. A part of him knew what his mama would think, but at the end of the day, he was still a boy curious about the world beyond. “You'd do that?” Pest's gaze shot back to the boy's looking for some fault in his words. It was a nice offer, but he had no reason to help him. He wasn't a medic and he wasn't his mama...but maybe it was best if he didn't question it. He'd gloss over the question of his pain. It never truly went away, there were just better days than others.

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 The kid — who was a tad older than Krueger and by no means was more a 'kid' than he was, looked pitiful stuck in this hole in the ground. And fuck it, if Krueger got caught, he'd take all the blame. What's life without a little risk anyway? Morag would never punish him for something as silly as playing with another kid. "Yea. I'm serious. C'mon, let's get rollin'. Climb on my shoulders and I lift you out." The nightmare commented, finding his way to the side of the hole and kneeling down. He could jump out fine, but was unsure with how frail the other boy was, if he could do it by himself or not. Best to assume the worst. 

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Despite his moment of enthusiasm, the sickly boy swiftly realized just how terrifying the thought of leaving was. He knew nothing of the world beyond, and he'd hate to draw his mama's wrath...but fear only did so much for a boy who knew of nothing to fear and rarely had he seen the dark side of his mama. He'd watch as the other boy moved towards the edge of his confines and lowered himself, but he wouldn't move for Krueger just yet. Instead, his gathered what was left of his rocks and shoved them into his makeshift creature pouch and ran with a strange hobbled gait toward the under hang where he had eventually dug out a sleeping chamber for himself.

He'd shift his belongings to lay under the cover of dead moss brought to him, then make his way back at a slower pace. Perhaps if he was healthy he would have been faster, but even the short run had been strenuous. Sick eyes glanced between Krueger's back and the ridge he was meant to climb out of as he caught his breath. Even with his help, he wasn't sure if he would have the strength, but he would never know unless he tried, would he? Pestilence raised, a scabbed paw as he carefully stepped upon the other's back and slowly scrambled his way higher with a series of grunts. For a moment he'd wobble, his legs uncertain of the curve of the other boy's spine, but he managed to brace himself against the walls of the pit as he reached for the unknown.

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if this is bad im sorry it is literally 4 am

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 It took the other a moment, but finally, he clambered on out over the nightmare's shoulders. The other boy was frail, like a rabbit starved for a few days too long, ready for death. The boy hadn't really noticed it until he was feeling the kid's bones rub up against his own. It made him grimace, and an itch run over his entire body.

 Once Pest was halfway out, reaching towards the outside of the pit, Krueger bucked his shoulders up, giving him an extra 'umph.' Then, the legend himself popped out of the pit, climbing beside Pest, eyes gleaming as he looked over the shithole that'd been deemed the filth's homeworld. "Whatcha think? Pretty cool, huh?" He asked, taking a few steps forward before twirling around, facing Pest with a grandiose smile, as if he was a king admiring his freshly taken palace. 

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omg i'm so awful at keeping up.
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alllll good

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The helpful shove almost caused the boy to slip, though fortune would favor his escape as he hauled his weight out of the pit. Pest's legs trembled either from the strain, excitement, or fear, though at the moment he couldn't tell which to blame. Pale eyes stared wildly as he scanned the dark trees looming overhead. More growth sprouted from the base of each trunk, some thick and burly, the rest thinning and soft. He hadn't traveled far, and yet it felt completely different. Pestilence would turn only in time to see Krueger making his way up after him, both of their gazes glued to the dank and lackluster pit he had grown in.

Truthfully, he felt overwhelmed and out of his element, but he couldn't quite admit that to his new friend. “Is it all like this?” An ominous haze clung to the ground, masking his steps as he carefully padded forward. There were so many scents, some familiar, others entirely new. Plants he had never seen @Err bring. Instinctively he wanted to eat them in hopes that they would do something for his pain, but he could collect on his way back and experiment before bed. If it worked, however, he couldn't help but wonder why Err would keep medicine from him.

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 Fog licked at the bottoms of his ankles, passing through both of their legs like a river spirit, never fully embracing their physical forms. "Think so." Krueger answered, glancing back around the tall trees, ever reaching towards the clouds. He'd never seen more than the middle of the Reach, too tired to go closer to the edges of their territory. But from what Krueger could imagine, this place was so big, there couldn't be that much more to the world, could there?

 The nightmare slid forward a step. "Different from your home, isn't it?" The corners of his lips upturning as he cast a glance back to the pit they'd only so recently breached — one of them for the very first time. "Maybe we can see more of it together. Busy Err up with gathering something and get your mama with my mom." The boy says, coming up with the plan on the fly, and seeing no possible failures at hand. It'd be cool to see what was out there, and with someone he didn't have to compete with. 

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“Very...” The truth weighed heavy on his tongue as sickly eyes darted to new shadows and crevices he had never seen. To think there had been so much just above him all this time...and all he had known is the dirt and rock that sat wasting away in a hole. Not even the water wished to run clear or full. He had been wasting away, and maybe that was the intention. Unfortunately, he lived by some miracle and that pit of garbage had become his home. Something he felt secure in despite everything it lacked. “I'd like that.” Pest wasn't sure how to even throw his trail from his obsessive mother, but there had to be a way to see more. Maybe @Eris would even recognize that it was time for him to leave the pit. “When?” He wouldn't question the hows of it. All he knew is he wanted it to be true, whatever it took to make it possible.

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 "Soon." Krueger said, finding his company much easier than being around his siblings — all of them were always competing. What did Pest have to compete with him about? Nothing. Their personas meant very little right now. Just two boys wanting to walk outside their worlds. "We have to be smart, though." The boy stated, before looking back to the pit — the kid should probably go back in soon. If his mother were to come by dinner time. "Alright, get one last good look at it all." Krueger gestured to the wild wilderness around them before moving back towards the hole in the ground, ready to descend Pest into his grave, until he came back with an escape plan. 

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He'd only nod at Krueger's words. Soon. He could be satisfied with that. Every day was the same for him, minus the fluctuating status of his ailments. Having something to look forward to made his chest tingle with an unfamiliar feeling. Pest didn't know how to be smart about their plan, but fortunately it seemed the other was already cooking up a plan for their freedom. The tarnished boy inhaled, holding his breath as if it would make this moment last a while longer, while pale eyes took a final scan of the unknown. When he had finished, his breath escaped his lips with a small dip of his head before he turned to find his way home.

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