[PRP] Laying the Groundwork (Forward by Choice x Leaves You Breathless)

[doomsayer]

The shock of losing track of Forward by Choice stopped her progress. Seeing the ghost in front of her now elicited a rush of memories.

The large muscular brown Acha that appeared beside her smiled a familiar smile. "It has been a long time child. I see your glow has only grown brighter. So cruel of nature to give one of her best hunters such a disadvantage in the fray."

"I'm not a child anymore Call of the Hunt. And you're not real. Y-you died a long time ago." She shakingly responded.

"You may have overcome the trial of youth given to you by the mist, but that does not mean that you have truly grown. To this day, you still carry my ambition to go beyond the desert. You want to be like me and suffer from the pangs of the ache. There's nothing out there for you child-- nothing for any kin. You are already the apex of hunting prowess among your own kind, as I was, isn't that enough? You can settle down. Find a good male to give you progeny. Pass down my teachings. I can show you, here in the in between, what your future can bring. There's no reason for you to go further."

She swallowed the lump forming in her throat as she looks into the face of her beloved mentor while he belittles her efforts.

"Your ambition. Suffer like you. The apex among our kind, as you were. You, you, you.

None of this is about you, Call of the Hunt. I want to do this because of me. You gave up. I want to know what's out there beyond. I want to feel how it feels like to go against the pull of home. I want to be better than I was before. It may have been you who put these ideas in my head, but it is my choice to pursue them.

The real you would have been happy for me.

But like I said earlier, you're not real."

With a snarl of umbrage, she turns away from the Acha and keeps walking the way she was before. In her mind she thinks of Forward by Choice, hoping he is alright. Willing him to come back to her side.

[HuniPi]

The drumming heartbeat finally subsided from Forward by Choice's ears, replaced instead by a keening so high it hurt and all but drowned out the small voice. No, no, not voice. Voices.

He couldn't make out what they were saying but somehow he knew the kin these voices belonged to. And this recognition reminded him he wasn't alone. That he had someone he could rely on and who, in turn, relied on him.

"Move forward," he ordered, and despite the heavy weight that suddenly grabbed at his ankles, the totoma made himself take a step forward. And another one. And another. Until the voices became clearer, and merged into one.

He blinked. And when he opened his eyes, he wasn't alone anymore. Beside him was Leaves You Breathless, looking a little more perturbed than when they first went inside but more importantly still walking forward, along the path before them.

"Found you." He said gently, relieved, quite possibly even grateful. "Now, we think of the plains."

[doomsayer]

She doesn't know how long she was walking without him by her side, but when he returned, she was filled with relief. She playfully nudged his flank with hers in an attempt to inject some levity into the situation.

"What are you talking about? If anything, I found you." She teased.

"Glad I haven't lost you to this place. I'm hoping its last ditch effort was separating us. It showed me a ghost of my past. How about you?"

[HuniPi]

Forward nodded, equally relieved that the doe had not gotten lost in the In-Between. "It tried that with me during my last journey through here as well. I supposed since it failed then, it decided to show me a forest growing from death."

It was the best way he could describe what he saw. "But we should be finding out way out sooner than later."

And indeed, not too far off from where they were seemed to be a cavern-shaped glow. Forward recognized it and continued towards it.

[doomsayer]

Leaves breathed out a loud exhale at the sight of the light that Forward By Choice hinted was the end of their jaunt into this place. The light from the cavern-shaped glow felt welcoming and familiar, much like how she felt about the glow she emitted herself.

As they crossed the threshold, they emerged out into the rolling green hills and meadows of the northern plains, just abutting the edge of the swamp. She was born further north, where the plains flattened into tall grasslands and fast predator and prey constantly contested for survival.

"We can rest for a while here where the breeze is comforting and the view is still pleasant. But I am to continue further north of the plains, the even further into the desert. This is but the halfway point of our journey."

She looks to Forward By Choice who remains steadfast and sure even as she relays the tough travel ahead of them. She leans her flank against his again, this time to gently express her appreciation for all he's already done for her.

"Thank you for agreeing to come along with me, and thank you for helping me through the obelisk. I now know that I can trust you to have my back, so I want you to know that you can rely on me when the need arises as well.

[HuniPi]

He'd had Heart speak the same of him before and even though the words came from a different doe, they still had the same effect on him. He gave the doe a warm smile, "I am a kin of my word, but it's still appreciated to know you trust me and that I can trust you. I'm not all too fond of the heat of the desert but I'm certain that together we can go further and farther."