Elevated

"[THREAD TITLE]" is a [SEASON NUMBER] thread started on [IRL DATE] and finished on [IRL DATE].
==Summary==
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==Full Text==
Dario: Dario sat on the outskirts of the makeshift camp, watching as tents were forming silhouettes against the setting sun. Orskaf had gone away for the time being, and he was free to do as he feared he would end up doing…
…wandering.
He had a hard time keeping focus on anything that pertained to battle. He wasn’t experienced in the art of war, nor did he find it an intrinsic curiosity that he would eventually flesh out. He was an incredibly passive person, and to come back to the land of the living to fight was on his list of things he hadn’t planned on doing in his existence.
What’s the worst they’ll do if I’m not here? There are so many of us… lost for so many reasons, and brought here for one.
He stood, aimlessly trudging in the direction he and Orskaf had come from after the attack on the Rebellion camp.
It would be for only a night… I want to know more about these warriors of Hel.
He followed the stars, as he had been taught by his mother, and didn’t speak a word to any of the other members of his camp before retreating quietly into the night.
Vox: Vox stirred where he lay, groggy and in a mental state comparable to that of a post-lobotomy patient. The back of his head, though not nearly as painful as it had been after the attack on the camp, still stung with a noticeable annoyance.
He threw his legs over the side of the cot, allowing his feet to touch down to do the infirmary floor…
Infirmary. That’s where I am right? Then why is this floor so… cold?
He took a look around, rubbing his eyes to regain a clear visual. As things came into focus, he realized that he had been moved since his healing.
You’ve got to be kidding.
He stood up, walking the length of the room he and only a few others remained in. The unwelcome fit of nostalgia pushed his mind into racing, and he just wanted to get out.
I’d rather be in Hel.
Dario: I’d rather be anywhere else.
Dario had been reflecting on the recent events, the upcoming war, and his role in the entire thing. He had always been so passive, and unless he had no other options, fighting was a route he didn’t want to take.
I can’t do this. Odin, I can’t do it.
He topped a hill, and not terribly far from him would have stood the fortress. Instead, only rubble and debris from a night he wishes he hadn’t seen.
Tree: Tree turned around and saw Vox rise from his cot and pace the length of the infirmary. “Yeah,” she sighed, looking back around to glare at the wall. “Welcome home.” She put her head in her hands, wincing as her cut flared again.
Vox: “Tree!”
He pushed aside any discomfort at the sights and sounds of his love. She turned to meet her name, and was thrown into a firm embrace by Vox.
“Thank Odin you’re here. I didn’t know what was going on, and why we’re here… there’s nothing left… out there, right?”
Tree: She softened a bit as she buried her face into Vox’s shoulder, but she still felt anger and fear and confusion boiling within her. “I don’t know. I haven’t been outside. I don’t want to…to see it.”
Dario: The fountain was only a few feet away at this point, and he took care to not make any disturbances that may cause issues with these rebels. He didn’t know their demeanor or motives, so any precautions he could take were necessary.
The destruction here… and for what?
He shook his head at the sights. Blood still stained much of the area, though the bodies had mostly been recovered. His reasoning for this quick exploration was becoming much more real than he had expected. There was loss, and from what he could see from that night, there was grief.
Vox: “That makes two of us…”
Vox neared the entrance, allowing time for his eyes to adjust to the light.
“We can’t just stay in here, Tree. I want to know what the current situation is. We need to know what we’re up against.”
He kept walking, intent on finding some answers.
Tree: “Vox, no, I can’t do it.”
Tree stood and stared at the floor, almost ashamed of herself.
“You can go and look, but I don’t think…” 
She trailed off. I’m being so stubborn.
Vox: “You don’t have to go if you don’t feel up to it, Tree.”
He smiled at her, giving his reassurance that he would be fine
“Just don’t let me wander too long.”
He took his first few steps into the open, and cringed at the sight of the desecrated camp. There wasn’t much left, compared to what he remembered. To see his home that he had assimilated in destroyed in this fashion was heartbreaking.
There has to be someone that knows something.
Dario: He turned his course to what looked to be a dungeon at one point in time, but it had been destroyed at least months before Walpurgisnacht. It had settled into it’s own decay, still somewhat structurally sound, but obviously damaged.
He took it in. These guys had prisoners…
The details of the dungeon grew clearer as he approached, allowing him to see what looked to be cots located inside.
Clean cots… there had to be people.
Tree: She sighed and approached the exit of the infirmary, rubbing her hands over her upper arms. a chill had settled in the air; the sun had nearly gone below the horizon already. She felt guilty about letting Vox wander about on his own, and besides, he still had that nasty cut on his head. He must have already gone deeper into the dungeon. Pressing her lips together, she crept carefully out, tilting her head to look up at the deep indigo sky, fading to a strong golden-amber where the sun was disappearing. It took everything within her to ignore the broken cells and hallways baring their guts to the outside air. 
Something moved out of the corner of her eye and she noticed someone approaching. He was tall, she noticed, taller than even Vox, and there was something…coming from his head. Antlers. He was a half-breed. 
Tree hopped a short wall of fallen stones and squinted at him. “What are you doing here?” she called out, throat scratchy from too much sleep and disuse. “Who are you?”
Dario: His ears perked to the direction of the inquisition. A feline… she was a half-breed… and the boy that had made his way out here before her… the way he stood, and his hair… those eyes were familiar… he couldn’t forget the last time he saw someone with eyes like that. It was when he looked into Vox’s eyes as he was about to be slain…
No. There’s no way, this camp… he should be back in High Central…
Dario couldn’t keep denying it. This was the boy he gave his life to protect.
“…Vox?”
Vox: There is no way in Hel that this is who I think it is.
Vox was still, unable to process the entity standing in front of him. The world seemed to have stopped in that moment, only leaving the boy and stag.
You died… five years ago, you died… I saw your body, they severed your spine and you were gone on impact…
He began to breathe harder; his blood pressure rising. There wasn’t a chance that this was happening.
“You can’t be… alive…”
Vox moved closer, fists clenched and voice shaking.
“I watched you die… this has to be a trick, I mean, Loki must be up to this…”
He placed himself inches from the half-breed, starting him in the eyes. He normally would have wiped away the tears from his own, but he couldn’t think of anything else but the apparition of his friend in front of him. 
Odin… this… it’s him…
“Why?! Why did you give yourself up for me?!”
He pushed Dario, causing the deer to take a step back. Visibly frightened, Dario didn’t move.
“You should have let me handle the mages!… I could have saved you, Dario!… I-I should have!…”
He went for another shove, but stopped as he made contact with the deer. His weight collapsed into Dario, and he sobbed as he stood against his best friend.
“I- I am so glad you’re here.”
Tree: Vox started yelling and Tree’s eyes widened. She glanced back and forth between the two rapidly, chest heaving. There was so much unspoken emotion and memory between these two. She didn’t know exactly what it was but she could feel it spilling into the air, and her throat tightened as he fell across the half-breed, shoulders shaking.
Who is this guy?
Dario: “Vox, I…”
He held the boy in his arms. It was definitely him. He was so much taller than before; Vox rivaled his own height. He had grown so much since their last encounter. He pulled him in as tight as he could manage.
“I am so sorry, buddy. I didn’t know… who could have known what was going to happen? This isn’t your fault. It’s alright bud, I’m here now.”
…even if I don’t quite know why.
He rested his head on the top of Vox’s, allowing the boy to release his emotions as he held him. Dario could feel his own tears welling and falling, mostly out of disbelief of the situation. There was nothing else he could do but stand with his friend and let their relationship rekindle.
Vox: He gripped at Dario’s clothes, reminiscing on the last time he’d been able to hold him this close. There was a love for his friend that had been lost for the past few years, and the resurgence of it was overwhelming.
“I never… I thought I’d never see you again, Dario.”
He looked up, into the face of the man that had raised him during his youth. He was a brother, if not of blood, but of companionship.
“I love you, buddy. I am so sorry for everything.”
He wiped his eyes, and instantly recalled Tree not being far behind the two of them. He swiftly turned to face her.
“Dario, this is my girlfriend- sorry, my fiancee, Treepelt.”
Tree: She stepped forward hesitantly, not wanting to break the moment, but Vox was obviously giving her an opportunity to speak and she cleared her throat, smiling nervously at the half-breed. “Nice to meet you.” Nudging Vox with her elbow, she said with a more genuine grin, “He said it. I’m engaged to this knucklehead.” Her soft gaze clearly betrayed her feelings for him, though. 
Dario:“It’s an honor to meet you, Treepelt.” He placed a hand on her shoulder, giving her a warm grin in the process. “You must be a spectacular young woman if Vox has grown fond of you.”
He looked back to his friend, whom had regained his composure at this point and was visibly in awe at the conversation.
“I’ve known Vox since he was just a boy. We grew up with one another in High Central… he got into quite the trouble as a young one, but he has grown into such a great man.”
Dario eyed the pair up and down, questioningly.
“How old are you now, Vox?”
Vox: “I’m twenty-three. Huh, I guess that makes me older than you now, eh?”
The grin on Vox’s face diminished. He was reminded that Dario never had the chance to experience his adulthood. All the things Vox had gone through over the past five years, good and bad, were all done without the help of his friend.
“I wish you could have been there… for me, for everything. There were days where I would forget you weren’t around, and all I needed was your advice. You didn’t get to live your life how you had wanted to. I am so sorry…”
Dario: Dario shot Vox an empathetic glance. He’s been through way more than I thought.
“It’s alright, Vox. You can’t drone about the things you can’t change. What matters now is that we’ve come back together through fate, and we need to figure out why.”
He took a seat on a wall of rubble, motioning for the two to join him.
“Now, do either of you know why I’m back here?”
Tree: Treepelt had stepped forward and intertwined her fingers with Vox’s, listening to their story, and they weren’t specific on what had happened but she could definitely guess that it had been a lot. More than any person should go through. Then the deer half-breed delivered his question, and she bit her lip, wondering how to say it.
“Ragnarok’s coming,” she said simply, the two of them sitting next to Dario. “Lots of people who used to be dead are coming back to fight for the gods–at least, that’s how I understand it.” Ice began forming in her stomach and she looked worriedly at him.
“You don’t…happen to know which god brought you back…do you?”
Dario: “A man told me the same. Other’s at my camp call him Orskaf. I’m not sure who brought me back…”
He looked to them with pain in his eyes.
“But he did tell me this… we are to attack this camp again. There is an army, and they’ve been convinced that you lot are rebels that have committed crimes that will be justified in Ragnarok. I don’t know what crimes they are referencing… but they made you out to be the enemy.”
Vox: Vox’s face went white at the mention of that name… Orskaf…
“It’s Odin’s army. The warriors of Valhalla have been brought to fight Hel’s army in Ragnarok, Dario… and unfortunately, Tree and I are part of a group of rebels that had our souls sold to Hel.”
He peered at the ground, hoping to make any sense of this mess.
“You have to go back, Dario.”
Dario: “I don’t understand, Vox.”
He watched as the boy kept his contact with the ground. He knew Vox wouldn’t want to deliver that news to him, and neither of them wanted to face it.
“We’re back together. We can find a way through this, and Tree too. I don’t want to have to leave you to fight on your own anymore.”
Tree: “He’s right, Vox.” Tree looked desperately up at her fiance’s face. “There’s got to be something we can do. He can…we can hide him, or we could just…we’ll figure something out.” She rather liked Dario, and couldn’t bear to see him on the opposing side, especially not when he and Vox were so close.
“Please don’t send him away. We can work this out.”
Category:BOTGD
Category:Season 5
Category:Events
Category:Treepelt Halfpaw
Category:Dario Hjort
Category:Vox Arnason