ShyaraChan: *There's not a sound save the crunch of snow under his three paws, not a thing moving but the cloud of breath before him, nothing to do but move forward, keep pushing forward, and to mull over the last.. the last hour? The last day? Could it have only been a day that passed, this eternity now behind him..?
He sighs, the breath billowing momentarily before his face, impairing his vision. Mulling is the last thing he'd care to do at the moment. The key was to not think too hard about it, wasn't it..?*

ShyaraChan: *Nothing has changed. He resolutely shakes the new snow buildup off his tan coat and pauses to shake the buildup of ice from between his paws.*

Elae111: *her clouded eyes stay on the snow in front of her, running over beaten paw prints, there since the last large snowfall. smaller ones to the side, the path dissapearing and reappearing. nothing save the cold air around her and the snow before her... nothing has changed.*

ShyaraChan: *Hypocritical to his own wish, he recalls with a sharp flinch the look on her face when - no.
Just keep moving.
He flicks his gaze upwards, scanning the horizon once more, finding nothing once more. The lit was wrong. She had to be wrong.. There was nothing here. No tracks to possibly follow, not with this light snowfall..*

Elae111: *she resolutely sets a paw before the other, not pausing in her long trek home, just walking... the scenery changes, growing more mountainous, less tundra, as she walks, but she pays no attention, just walking on*

ShyaraChan: *Something in the horizon catches his gaze fast and holds it - some kind of inconsistancy, a sort of.. lump. There's no other way to describe it.
He squints, shaking his head and silently cursing the snow. The grayish lump is immobile, unmoving. Gods know what it could be.*

Elae111: *over a rise, down, she continues to walk, silent, alone...*

ShyaraChan: *..No, it's not an object. The closer he gets, time passing ever so slowly, the easier it is to see what exactly it is - a variation in the land itself. Spirits brighter, paws still numb, the doubts begin to fall from his mind.*

Elae111: *finally she pauses, standing still, and lifts her head, glancing around herself, then forward once more. she notices no pain of walking, or anything resembling that, but still she pauses. emotionally exhausted, physically..fine, her body healed. she glances around once more, then curls into a snow drift, closing her eyes though she does not sleep, just listening*

ShyaraChan: *The light flurry breaks off as abruptly as it'd begun, the clouds themselves seeming to disappear, to settle onto the ground and fade. The sun is half-setting by now, low enough to set a long glare on the surface of the unbroken snow. The vision is remarkable, the air dry, the horizon unhindered but for the single imperfection that raises his spirits so much. Perhaps the lit wasn't wrong after all.. If this leads "home", and this is indeed the direction in which Angel was headed..*

ShyaraChan: *..then there's a chance he'll sleep tonight, for what seems to be the first time in an eternity.
All he need hope for now is that this was indeed the direction Angel chose.*

Elae111: *she opens her eyes stares out, no emotions on her face...not a frown, not a smile, just blank eyes, and a silent form. silence... is all that is there*

ShyaraChan: *No matter how hard he tries, it seems impossible to derive the distance between himself and the steady-forming lump. But it's something, he reminds himself almost crossly, something better than wandering aimlessly, half-crippled. At least by this he'll have a reference point to work from.*

Elae111: *ears back, wing folded, she blends in with the distant world around her, safe...safety as she knows it.. safe inside her own mind, looking out*

ShyaraChan: *...Rowrr actually pulls a smile, albeight a wry one, and wonders, not for the first time, if he's going insane.*

Elae111: *and as she stares out, she sighs, showing a rare emotion, even for a flicker, a second, of time... and then she is still again*

ShyaraChan: *A time passes. Seconds, hours, minutes... time's become irrelevent, and not just recently. The lump is by no means a lump any longer, but a series of.. waves, more than anything, in the land. A tundra. This barely registers with Rowrr, no more than to tell him how far he's gotten or where he is..*

Elae111: *time is still for her, locked in her own mind, but something stirs....tells her she will not be alone for much longer*

ShyaraChan: *Rowrr moves almost soundlessly over the frozen, snowless ground, his sole foreleg trembling slightly with all the weight and effort. He barely notices. A few snowdrifts pile up here and there, but with the new territory, there's far less. Tundras hold less snow, the air being much too dry..*

Elae111: *curled up in one of the few, she stares out, expectant now...and patient*

ShyaraChan: *Rowrr limps by a particularly large snowbank, barely noticing. He pauses to rocks back on his hind legs, brushing the leftover snow from his eyes with his good paw.*

Elae111: *her eyes flash and narrow slightly, then cloud over once more, and she stays still, watching in silence, aware*

ShyaraChan: *He hesitates for the first time in what could have been nearly a day, staying in the same position - settling back, giving his paws a much-needed rest. The tattered feathers on his crippled wing shuffle vaguely in the weak breeze. He lifts his head, nose in the air, and takes a brief glance around, ears flicking back a bit. His eyelids are drooping a bit by now - the brief rest he'd obtained from being utterly knocked out won't last him much longer.*

Elae111: *she does not move, though somewhere, deep inside of her, a memory of what she should be doing leaks through... the thought is quickly put away, and she watches him in silence*

ShyaraChan: *With a quick exhalation and a defeated shake of the head, he sits/collapses with a small huff. Surely it couldn't be that easy. Angel wasn't predictable enough that her actions could be foretold by a.. by a LIT. He'd have to go back - she wouldn't be heading home so soon, after all that. It'd stand to reason that she'd want to be alone, wouldn't it..?
He winced. Alone. For a fleeting moment, he considered giving her that, it seemed much needed..*
*With a silent pause, he reconsidered. She wasn't in her right mind, either, he couldn't allow her to get in the same situation he'd seen her in earlier..*

Elae111: *she does not move from where she lays, almost invisible, save her eyes... those which are narrowed into slits, watching him. her breathing is almost silence itself, and she sits still, too still for anyone else... and she watches him, waiting*

ShyaraChan: *Rowrr's head droops slightly, after another long moment of nothing, but snaps back up immediately. This was not the time or place for a rest - not only for himself, but for..
He shakes his head and sits up quickly to keep himself from dozing again.*

Elae111: *patience.... she watches, waiting, quiet*

ShyaraChan: *A vague glance to the left was all it took. Out of weariness and a sense of defeat, he'd taken a impassionate look around - stopping when he saw her eyes.*
*He takes a sharp breath between his teeth and stands, backing up a single step, breathing something profane and panicked to himself.*

Elae111: *she watches him in silence, calmly, not a snarl, a smile, a saddened face as she meets his eyes. just, a calm, silent gaze*

ShyaraChan: *There's a long pause. Rowrr's ragged breath is silent, the only evidence being the frozen air that billows in front of him. He's as frozen as the ground for a good five minutes before stumbling backward again, swallowing, and taking another breath. He'd been searching so long that he'd forgotten how terrified he was when he found her..*

Elae111: *she watches him a moment longer, then stands, smoothly, in a single gesture, to her feet, and turns away from him. without a look back at him, she begins to walk again...*

ShyaraChan: *He speaks, his voice low, but not without a certain pleading note in it.* Go home.

Elae111: *she does not miss a step, and continues walking, silent*

ShyaraChan: *He takes one step after her, frustration and bewilderment building. He hesitates, and finally begins to follow once again.*

Elae111: *finally, a dozen steps later, she speaks, her voice low, and quiet, even* home is a place i left a long, long time ago. *and continues to walk on, now silent*

ShyaraChan: *The sound of her voice is shocking in itself - her words, simply what he'd known was coming, were a slap. He flinched invariably, ears pinning, and says nothing, simply following in her tracks, silent and behind a good few feet, but there.*

Elae111: *she walks, identical to a few hours before... i no way different, save him shadowing her. and she walks on, ignoring him, ignoring everything around herself*

ShyaraChan: ..Which way is home?
*The words are a frank inquiry, nothing less or more, nothing shadowed behind them.*

Elae111: *she walks on in silence, not replying to that*

ShyaraChan: ..I can't let you got back alone, if that's what you're..

Elae111: ...you can never go back. returning is impossible.

ShyaraChan: *He speaks without a sense of emotion, head lowered, speaking to the ground.* ..Then you move forward.

Elae111: to what.

ShyaraChan: Who's to say.
Not me, I guess.

Elae111: *she walk on, silent once more*

ShyaraChan: *Firmly, quietly, he speaks again.* Angel, go home tonight. There are people back home who are worried about you.

Elae111: *she glances towards the sky, an echo of her own voice saying something near that, a distant memory.... she lowers her head, quiet, the memory gone*

ShyaraChan: *His voice remains the same.* I'm not the only one looking for you. They've - we've - got reason to be worried, from what I.. saw.. You've got to go home tonight, Angel.

Elae111: time has no meaning any more. i have waited forever....what should a day, an hour, matter.

ShyaraChan: *As quietly as he can manage* I'm not worried about the time, Angel, you're not... *understatement of the year* .. taking care of yourself.

Elae111: compare yourself to me.

ShyaraChan: I wouldn't know how.

Elae111: look at yourself.

ShyaraChan: *he stays silent, still staring at the ground.*

Elae111: *she walks on*

ShyaraChan: ..I don't know what you're getting at.

Elae111: *she glances back once, eyes quiet, and looks at his limp, his wounds, everything, then forward once more, still walking*

ShyaraChan: *Firmly* Angel, I can't reach you. I've tried for Gods know how long, and I know I can't. But I'm not going to leave you alone out here.

Elae111: *she does not reply, knowing what he will say*

ShyaraChan: *He, in fact, says nothing else.*

Elae111: *she walks*

ShyaraChan: *Finally, he grits out* ...even if it kills me, should th'Gods have it...

Elae111: *quietly, without faltering* dont.

ShyaraChan: *He makes desperation with impatience* Don't presume to tell me what I can and can't do.

Elae111: then dont presume to do the same.

ShyaraChan: I don't truly believe you want to live like this, Angel, you act though you're half dead... We worry when you're gone, can't you see..?

Elae111: i dont wish to live like this. i've asked you before...for release.

ShyaraChan: You're aren't weak as that.

Elae111: i'm strong enough for it. a wish such as that does not come from weakness.

ShyaraChan: *quietly* It does.
You wanted the easy way out.

Elae111: i want the only way out.

ShyaraChan: *His face tightens, glancing up from the ground for the first time.* You think that.
Gods, you truly do.
Even when everyone's trying to find you - Elae111: *she walks, not pausing, not saying anything in agreement..or in dissagreement*

ShyaraChan: *quietly again* You have to believe me.

Elae111: i learned not to trust a long time ago.

ShyaraChan: *A silence*
..Angel, what would I do to you?

Elae111: the same thing that everyone has done to me.

ShyaraChan: What's that..?

Elae111: *she falls into a grim silence, and walks*

ShyaraChan: Aren't you going to tell me..?

Elae111: no.

ShyaraChan: *amiably* I figured as much.

Elae111: *she walks on in silence now*

ShyaraChan: *He continues to follow, a bit raggedly as ordinary now, working with three legs alone.*

Elae111: *silence*

ShyaraChan: I may as well ask where we're headed.

Elae111: "home" *her voice puts a slightly mocking tone to it*

ShyaraChan: *almost relieved* Then you're going to make a lot of people feel a lot better.

Elae111: *she says nothing, still walking*

ShyaraChan: *adds quietly* Hopefully yourself included.

Elae111: *the same reaction*

ShyaraChan: ..Though I don't think that's likely, is it..
*seems to be talking more to himself by now*

Elae111: *walks on, eyes clouded*

ShyaraChan: *He follows in silence, his walk a bit unsteady and footsteps clunked awkwardly in the silence, left paw curled against his chest.*

Elae111: *silence*

ShyaraChan: *The thin snow has started up again, though not enough to be especially noticable. Rowrr's head is tilted toward the ground once more, ears relaxed, expression impassive.*
*Knowing there's nothing rational left to say, Rowrr, pausing momentarily to stretch his back legs, each carefully and flinchingly, seems to have reached a kind of tranquility from his despair. This will be his life, won't it..? Following, broken and battered, in her footsteps, never reaching her, but keeping her from harm - never saying anything that'd make a difference to her, but doing enough to make a difference in her life. And being strangely content with that..*

Elae111: *and she wanders.. not knowing anything, not content with what life has given her, nor with what life has taken from her...*

ShyaraChan: *Noting the vagueness of her step, Rowrr glances up momentarily.* I thought you were going home.

Elae111: *silence replies*

ShyaraChan: *abruptly, he repeats a question in response to a comment she made an eternity ago, voice rather distant, conversational.* What are you afraid of, Angel..?

Elae111: *her voice is almost silence, almost as if she mouths the word...* you.

ShyaraChan: ..Because I know you're still alive..?

Elae111: *she falls silent again, not looking back*

ShyaraChan: *He stops in his tracks for a moment, facing the back of her head, expression almost mournful.* Are you afraid to come back? Do you not know how to live without the mask anymore?

Elae111: *walks on* i do not know how to live.

ShyaraChan: *He follows, watching her carefully* You know how. But you're afraid of it.
And I know that. Is that why you're afraid of me?

Elae111: if you know then why do you question me.

ShyaraChan: I'm not convinced you understand it yourself.

Elae111: *silence*

ShyaraChan: ..Do you?

Elae111: no one can understand life.

ShyaraChan: But it's our obligation to try.

Elae111: i want to understand death.

ShyaraChan: You'll get your chance.
As will I.

Elae111: so why can that chance not be now.

ShyaraChan: ..You don't think I've gotten time to think about this sort of thing for the last year or so..?

Elae111: you did not have to. i never asked you to, in fact... i asked you to do otherwise.

ShyaraChan: Angel, how many people's lives did you save in the war?

Elae111: how many didn't i.

ShyaraChan: How many was it beyond your control.

Elae111: how many could i have saved, but didnt. how many could i have helped, but couldnt. how many died, because of me.

ShyaraChan: The war has done too much to us, all of us, damage to our hearts, our bodies, our souls.. but you can't let it win, Angel. War has no sides, it's an entity to itself, trying to bring us all down, and you just can't let it beat you.

Elae111: war is death. why could it not have claimed me as well.

ShyaraChan: *his voice is almost hushed.* Let it burn in Hell, Angel..

Elae111: *snarls to the ground* life is hell.

ShyaraChan: *His halting steps don't change beat* Then it's already won, hasn't it..?

Elae111: so why doesnt it take its prize.

ShyaraChan: Because there is none.

Elae111: i am its prize. it fights over me, my soul, so why does it not claim me when its won.

ShyaraChan: *firmly* Giving in to this would be destroying every memory of the ones you lost.
They'd be truly dead, lost to time.

Elae111: they are dead... all of them. lost forever.

ShyaraChan: They live on in your memory, Angel. But your memory is reliving their fates, isn't it..? *He flinches, at what appears to be a gradually-defrosting paw, but is most likely something else entirely.* Let souls rest, let the war die out..

Elae111: my memory is none of your business. *she walks on in deadly silence*

ShyaraChan: It has been for as long as I've known you.

Elae111: *she wheels in the snow, turning to face him, glaring, forcing each word out* let. me. be. my life, my past, my memories of anything are nothing you should know of, nothing you should be part of, because i want no one to be that for me. i trusted in someone once, and they were ripped away from me. its time for you to face the same thing. beacuse you are not a part of me. and i am a part of no one. just leave me be. *she closes her eyes for a moment, then turns and races away across the snowy tundra*