---

He was lost and freezing. Unsure how long he'd been roaming, as the days blurred together. His body had become unable to regulate his temperature as the effects of starvation moved in full swing. The boys ribs, spine and hips were poking out now beneath thick fur; which was shedding out despite the temperatures.

Benkei's mind was hazy, vision blurry as confusion and dizziness gripped him. He stumbled as he meandered through the snow dragging his feet he somehow convinced them to keep him moving, although the action was mindless at this point. His frame would be slumped and head hanging so much that his pink nose drug along the surface of the snow.

The boy whined and trembled, so cold, so weak.

So tired.

His heavy eyes blinked at the forever white ground beneath him before finally plopping down in the middle of the open field and curling into a desperate ball of blonde and tan fur.

---

❝ speech ❞

Cirilla
ooc; benkei is malnourished & starving, he's underweight, ribs and hips visible and suffering from confusion, disorientation, severe fatigue and the inability to regulate his temp. he may also be sick due to a weakened immune system

Today, Cirilla set off with one clear goal in mind: she wasn’t coming home until she had hunted down something fresh. The caches were getting stale, and everyone had their role to play. So today, she set off towards the hills - the hills would make the perfect vantage point, she thought (or assumed) and though she’d badly sprained her ankle the last time she had hunted anything - she reminded herself that was in a group hunt and she couldn’t crash into her packmates if there were no packmates around.

Granted, of course, being half blind made it harder to hunt as it was - and that’s when she saw it. The little tan hare, from afar. It had stopped moving, in the middle of an open field. Oh! Perfect! Not really. It was too small for her pack, but big enough for a snack, while she looked for a deer, or something, right?

She crept towards it, about ready to pounce on it and then - that’s when it occurred to her that it didn’t have a hare smell and then her eye lingered down on the poor, poor shape of a puppy?

Slowly, her agape mouth closed and Cirilla blinked, tilting her head as she gently prodded him with her nose.

---

He was so out of it he hadn't noticed he was being approached ─ he was also half asleep. Drawn to slumber by the way his head spun and his vision blurred. It wasn't until he thought he felt something push against him that he stirred, slowly lifting his head which felt like it weighed a hundred pounds and blinking heavy clover eyes up at the figure.

Pink nose would twitch against the others, and he blinked again slowly and his eyes remained half lidded when he did open them, as he tried to process his existence.

Ever so slowly would his tail move, curling back up over his back it gave one, then two slow wags followed by a tilt of his head which made his whole body topple over onto his side. Benkei sighed, cheek planted against the snow slowly pushing himself back up as he muttered ❝ ...who...are you? ❞

---

❝ speech ❞

ooc; notes

There was a tiny, tiny tan creature at her feet; one with green eyes and a curled tail - one not so unlike the one she’d lost. Her eyes of honey watched him curiously, triangular ears flickering with the wing, flickering harder when he spoke.

I’m Cirilla, the dog whined softly, looking back over his figure; the way his ribs and spine could so easily be seen - wasting time to hunt when there was still good food to be eaten in their caches suddenly didn’t feel so important anymore. She felt the desire to pocket him and show him the way to their caches.

and what’s your name, little angel?

---

He was so tired. "I’m Cirilla," the other woman said and he strained to hear it. But that voice, her earthy eyes...her face...why ❝ ...do I know you? ❞ he blinked as he asked it. Maybe this was all a dream actually.

"and what’s your name, little angel?" ❝ ...my name? ❞ he echoed, a small chuff coming as he coughed. What...was his name? Right. Focus. He could do this ❝ B-Ben....Benkei ❞ that sounded right. ❝ Am I....d-dreamin...Ciri? ❞ he stammered as his little body shook. ❝ It's cold... ❞ if this was a dream, why wasn't he comfortable? Maybe a nightmare.

---

❝ speech ❞

ooc; notes

Her ears lowered as she looked over him and her heart felt like it broke into two. She didn’t think they knew each other, no - but he looked so much like her lost little boy. The rejected, stripless bean that Rajani had given her, because he hadn’t had stripes - the lil runt of the litter, oh how he’d been just a babe when she was taken away…

That when she was spat back into Viv, she didn’t go back to the Dynasty & none had some looking for her - but she’d never told a soul his name. How could it be that he had the same name as her son? Her dead son?

You do, Cirilla whispered, certain that this could be no mistake, no coincidence. Let's go someplace warmer, okay?

She’d take him by the scruff if he’d allow, and head home.

---

"You do," a whisper, a fleeting gesture ─ a promise of something he didn't yet understand. ❝ ...I do? ❞ he echoed. Reaching out to brush her nose with his.

"Let's go someplace warmer, okay?" he only nodded, a yawn escaping his maw before he was swept up and out of the cold snow pile. The wind was still cold against him, he was damp from where he had been laying and the chill was harder to fight off with his poor state.

The pup would curl his legs into himself, rear legs tucking and front ones folding against his chest, dozing off lulled by the gentle bouncing of Cirilla's steps.

-exit-

---

❝ speech ❞
ooc; notes