[Kiefer]

It was dark — darker than most nights as no stars flickered like candlelight and the moon was shrouded in a veil of thunderheads. Rain was coming, he could smell it. The water was so pure, so much sharper than the bog of Alteron. It was dark there too, but not as dark as the forest he walked through. The Earth beneath him felt odd as if it were moving.

(He was the one moving.)

Writhing and high-pitch squishing in his ears. Maggots, that's what they were. Larva with biting mandibles, hungry for something soft, something that foamed and bubbled easily in their stomachs.

(They wanted him.)

Eyes bulged from between the leaves and twigs, watching him as he weaved through the pathway, the dirt crumbling as the hungry squealed and begged. They watched him carefully, skittering along the foliage in order to keep up with his steady pace.

(They whispered.)

With red, tired eyes and dry throat, he continued. He had to lest he become a victim of Famine. A black entity that encircled him restlessly, his throat bubbling with greedy groans. So hungry and so impatient. Glimpses could be seen of the beast, it's featureless body gliding over the path behind and in front of him. Of what he could see it was hunched, the gait not one of wolf or any beast he came across. The snorts and shrieks sent gooseflesh across his frame, but the boy stayed calm.

(Don't show it fear...)

He stopped. Ears pulled against his sore skull as his eyes widened to the darkness, waiting and listening for the crumbling, the squeals, the groans.

Silence.

He felt something wet on his shoulder, something heavy and warm. Turning his head slowly, the dripping became frequent, running down his leg and to the wriggling maggots that started to burrow deep into his feet. It was nothing compared to the feeling of his heart clenching tight as his eyes caught the glimpse of teeth flashing just before he felt his neck turn, the audible snap of bone and gristle being stripped away from meat.

CRACK!

Thunder boomed over head as rain fell in torrents. Lightning had flashed against his opened eyes. The tree he had sought shelter under leaked, a line of water dripping on his shoulder. Kiefer sighed heavily, closing his sore eyes for a few moments before standing. That dream again, it had come more and more frequently, but never had Famine actually touched him until now.

Was it a sign? Maybe.

Kiefer knew this was reality, he couldn't hear the screaming larva nor could he see the entity hunting him. He felt comforted by that thought for once, that he was safe.

For now.

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@waka

[Zasha]

@Gothy

#a91101

The rain had begun with a heavy downpour, and then tapered off to something far more steady, but Zasha had long since been drenched, his dark figure little more than a large clump of moving hair, the fringe that rested upon the right side of his face was now practically glued there. The damp of it brought on phantom stinging along the scars around his stolen eye.

He moved unfocused, large paws muddied by the wet ground, sloshing through puddle after puddle, the goal unclear. Out in the great wild outside of any pack walls, he was without the usual purpose besides being a father and husband. There was no brother to listen to, no orders to follow through with. The outside world was empty, and it was strange how Blue Sister had wanted such a life.

Then again, Zasha's mind had always been a battlefield of sub-surreal and unfamiliar. Stumbling drunkenly as his mind fought with old memories and red eyes that constant glared down at him, whispered voices that brought him back to a time long past. Something that could have been called glory days, but pain had been found around every corner hiding itself in the faces of those he loved and swore to protect.

His body crash landed into a hollow tree, jaws clacking together loudly, he grimaced, lucky to not have bit his tongue like he usually did. However something plush had cushioned half of his fall, nostrils flaring to the familiar feeling of fur and then the scent hit him, but his eyes felt blank and sightless. His mind cloaked a dark haze that swallowed him and spit him out more times than he could ever count. "Keef.. Kiefer?" He knew them all, his little lost children, by smell and sound.

He moved closer with a weak body roll, similar to a seal. "Keef??" He called again, though this time he sound a bit more urgent, struggling to push his face against his son's own.

[Kiefer]

Just as he was about to exit the log, another large crack echoed through the forest. It was close, almost on top of him and Kiefer visibly jumped, very confused as something hit him in the rump. Instinctively, he bolted forward, turning haphazardly with teeth bared and a growl of warning. His bubble of security had been popped, and if anyone knew him well, Kiefer absolutely hated to be touched at all. The nightmares were too real, and even now that he knew it was reality, threats could actually cause his death.

(Famine, have you found me?)

The voice however, was soft. One recognizable despite the rolling of thunder above. Face relaxed as the boy stood wide-eyed at the lump of fur before him. It called again, crawling closer and pleading. Brow furrowed as he could hardly let out a whimper, his throat closing tightly. "D...dad?" he finally said after moments of swallowing down the lump.

(Was it really him? Or was it a hallucination?)

Kiefer stood still, watching and waiting. He was waiting for Zasha to vanish, to twist in some grotesque fashion into the beast hunting him, for the larva to crawl from his flesh and the dream to start all over again. As time passed, nothing happened, only the warm body of his father creating steam against the cool environment. The stench of breath and damp coats were strong, something that broke Kiefer's confusion.

He hesitated, slowly approaching and scared. Nose sniffed at his father's face, mind whirling as the scent reminded him of the warm nights in Saboro with Juni and Adrien playing in the background as he fell asleep to the lullaby of cicadas and firefly lights. Simple times where he was comfortable and sleep was easier. "Dad.." he said again, allowing his body to lay down and crawl toward Zasha, heads interlocking in a makeshift hug.

For once, the warmth of another body was welcoming.

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[Zasha]

@Gothy

#a91101

In Kiefer's fevered nightmares, Zasha probably seemed like a creature wheezing in the darkness, a monster closing in for the kill as his body scraped along the dirt ground and jaws clacked against air in his struggle to be nearer to his boy. Large paws slapped the ground and longer claws dug deep tears into the earth, desperation took over, the need for contact as drool flooded his mouth and spilled from the side, he nearly choked as a voice spoke back. Naming him, his mind buzzed, the white noise drowned out only by the sound of his own heart beat so painfully loud within his ears.

A nose brushed him, finally, and a raspy breath escaped the ex-Hawkeye's throat, body trembling with a feeling he was certain to have felt before. Perhaps with Kol? Fur met fur and it took all that the tired father had in him not to wail out in surprise?? Happiness?? His body was quick to curl around his son, like he used to do when the kids were just small little beans.

No matter how many reunions they had, it'd always be the same. Like it had been in Alteron, loud whining and whimpering, shrill sobs that were met with fat tears that overflowed his eye and spilled down his greasy cheek. He'd crane his neck, fanning down the blue boy's side in an attempt to feel for wounds, another thing he always did. Another raspy exhale escaping him once Kiefer did pass with a clean bill of health, thank you, doctor Zasha.

"Sorry, so sorry." He croaked into the plush of his son's scruff, paw extending to drape of the boy's side and pull him in closer as if that were possible, he was already practically cradling him as is. "Zasha here now Keefs." His voice quiet against the patter of rain outside, a tone used a lot back when he was small and the nightmares were far more constant. Zasha would murmur little rambling to soothe the child back to sleep, it always worked then, so it couldn't hurt now.

No matter how old you got, you're still my kid. Nose would press against the side of Kiefer's face, nuzzling against it while placing one caring kiss before messing up the kid's already messy locks of hair, wetting them with happy tears. "Keefs safe, yep yep yep."

[Kiefer]

Despite the needless inspection, Kiefer was just glad that he was held by something real. Something to grasp to keep his mind from slipping into the world of darkness that was his usual. Like a man stepping into the coffee shop every morning and ordering the same thing over and over again. Routine, that was his nightmares. Zasha had been the unexpected blip in the radar for them both, yet it wasn't unwelcome either. In fact, Kiefer saw it as a blessing if anything. Once his father knew the boy was safe, the boy rolled back onto his stomach and laid there against the massive body of matted, wet fur.

Nose dug into the downy of Zasha's chest, feeling comforted by a familiar scent. One he hadn't known in quite some time now, a rock to tie him to reality if only for a while. Kiefer could even sleep, to hell with Famine. Those shiny teeth of the ex-Hawkeye could rip limbs and score throats. Zasha is here now Keefs.

Right here and now.

The only thing that kept him from it was his father's prodding. A nose wet with rain and tears smeared across Kiefer's face. A tongue placed a well deserved kiss and the boy couldn't help but smile. A gesture that felt so foreign to him, a long distant memory that had been forgotten. Chest heaved as breathing slipped his mind. "Come on, dad. Don't cry..." he said, croaking out the words as they had to shove their way past the lump in his throat.

"You... left Alteron too... huh?" the boy said after several minutes of silence. Many had slipped through the mesh once news of Azuhel's disappearance became common news. Kiefer hadn't felt right in the dark forest, and so he left despite knowing Zasha had resided and his sister Atlas. Even siblings and even more siblings.

"Now I'm running for my life..." A soft whisper, something more to himself than Zasha.

(The monster isn't real, you big baby.)

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[Zasha]

@Gothy

#a91101

His boy's words didn't fall on deaf ears, but it was physically difficult for Zasha to stop the heaving sobs that became whining cries in his rattling chest. His eyes simply would not allow him to, and his buzzing mind knew the words were there to help the boy understand, but could not form them. That part of Zasha that had been beaten back so long ago was now fragmented and splintered, but still that little pieces remained.

I missed you so much, I thought you were gone for good this time. He'd failed to protect them, failed to protect Atlas, Oktober, Adrian, Juni, and Caustus. His poor older children. There of them swallowed hole by the jungle that would by their home and grave. And Zasha, their own father, had failed them. Forsaken them, the day he ran. You did your worst, you tried your best. If he had stayed, their lives would've, they would've.... been okay.

He blamed himself for it all, Sappara's freedom was her own, and many times over Zasha knew he shouldn't have left. It wasn't right. And Alteron, heh, that place wasn't a home. It housed the feral creature he'd fallen for so many years ago, but her home was not his home. "Yes yes, left left left." His voice croaked in a hoarse reply.

Kiefer said something worrying, that lone red eyes flashed open. Had he seen him? That dark little creature that stalks in the shadows, with a voice so familiar and a face covered in smoke, but those red eyes and burning marks were so telling. A lonely brother looking for his family, haunting. "Who?" The ex-Hawkeye rumbled, large paw pulling his boy closer. "WHY?!" He urged, there was a feral fear in that tone, but something had sparked that parental need to protect. "Why run?! Who chase?!!!!" Because now my son's troubles are going to have troubles with me!

[Kiefer]

Kiefer felt himself be pulled closer by his father as he admitted to being chased. Immediate regret set in since he didn't know if he was actually being chased, or if it was all a dream. An illusion of the mind that often tormented him. Zasha was obviously scared, his voice shaking in that tone.

Why are you running, little boy? Do you know who I am?

A voice echoed and chuckled with a rumbling boom akin to thunder. His skin rippled with goosebumps as he shoved his head into Zasha's damp chest. "I don't know..." he mumbled, trying to think of an answer that would satisfy his father enough to calm him down. Brain searched but he couldn't think of any. He could tell the truth, but what was the truth? Kiefer had a hard time figure out what was real and what wasn't. Dreams meshed seamlessly.

(Anything could be possible.)

"It's nothing, dad... Probably just a dream." he finally spat, shifting slightly to release himself from Zasha's grip so he could look at his father in the eye. "I've just... you know, the nightmares. Sometimes I don't... know what's real. I don't know if this is real..." Kiefer shook his head. No, that was stupid.

This was real, it had to be.

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