Lost. Cold. Desperate.

The rain was falling heavy down upon his coat, plastering his cold fur to his skin, and seemingly attempting to drag him down and force him to give up. Through the wind and rain there was little to grab hold of. Slowly trudging, Locke panted heavily. His mind and his body ached with pain. Gone. She was gone. She had left with no word and never returned again. Worries struck his mind. Perhaps she had been kidnapped, or perhaps she had been injured with no way to return home. Perhaps she no longer wished to be of Helidos. Whatever her reason or problem, Locke knew he had to find her and discover it for himself. Things were different without her in Helidos, and he felt it was his duty to protect her if she had gotten into trouble. If she didn't want to return for him, he knew that Rose would miss her sister. The male stopped in his tracks and looked up to the stormy, grey sky above him.

"Faith.." He breathed out, closing his yellow eyes as rain drops fell on them. The wind messed with his balance and sense of direction. He was exhausted.

Her scent had taken him to exile terrain; far far away from home. He had hesitated, but knew there must be problems if she had never returned from the desolate place. Foolish? Yes. He knew he was in danger. He knew that he could meet his match at any point in this exile whether it be from animal or nature. It felt like the tight grip of death was hovering over him at that very moment even - riding on top of his back ready to collect his time. Part of him wished it would.

Her scent had ended at the beach. However, it was no fun, relaxing beach that had been the vacation spot for him and Faith. With rolling waves that crashed onto the shore with force, seemingly intent to kill, his heart had stopped. He had sunk to his paws with no breath in him. He had been so desperate to find another trail, so needing to see her joyfully chasing rabbits down near the forest line, but alas, her scent was gone. As was she.

It tore him apart to finally leave that beach. Every hope he had was just waiting to see her arise from the sea and tell him it was all just a big joke, and she had fooled him once again. He wouldn't even be mad. No, he would have laughed and ran to her.

Returning home with no companion in tote was slow, and he had little motivation to even walk properly. He slumped and tripped, and when the rain started later in the day he barely noticed. He could only hope now that she might be there waiting for him in Helidos. Yes, she was waiting for him. He had to go see her.

Opening his eyes to the sky above once more, the warrior looked back to his treacherous environment and a faint smile crossed his lips. There on the side of his mountain path was a blue flower - while it was not the same as he had given Faith on that day, their bright blue color reminded him of her beautiful smile. Slowly he walked to pluck their stems and bring them to her. Yes, he would bring them home to her.

Air filled where was once ground.

As he moved towards the flowers, the ground underneath him collapsed, and his body felt heavy as it fell through the air. It was cold at first, but the initial surprise had left and now he felt the weight of possibility lifted. The heaviness from his back was gone, and Locke knew that at any moment it would claim him. Time seemed to slow down to a stop, and the last thing that Locke saw was the blue flowers as they gently fell above him. His yellow eyes closed as he cascaded downward to the ground.

'Forget me not.
I'm coming home.'


If I could make days last forever
If words could make wishes come true
I'd save every day like a treasure and then,
Again, I would spend them with you.
- Time in a Bottle, Jim Croce


[R.I.P Lead Warrior Locke of Helidos]
OOC- Apprentice Achak may be killed or given to a new user. Any other characters I own may be null.