AW rune search thread!
I know we haven't finished the meeting thread but, Elaine feel free to pop in here too, if you fancy! :3

---

He followed Melinoe's instructions. North-ish. East-ish. A rambling trail, through woodland steeped in winter magic. And here the trees parted, fields spread open like a lover glad to see him. Except, of course, for the unseemly blue cracks splitting the grass everywhere. They'd slowed him down worse than being, frankly, lost.

Time passing remained a fairly esoteric concept to Rivers in some ways, but he did come to agree with his Queen's notion that this had been a frankly awful juncture to do some sight-seeing. Hopefully his destination was still intact by the time he got there.

And since his vacation was a rather indefinite one, he supposed he best do what he could to extend the lifespan of the world. Wouldn't you know it, the powers that were had just the solution.

Runes.

Generous of them to be so forthcoming. A fae would have wrapped in riddles! As he roved, River's eyes stayed keen for anything fit to excite curiosity.

It was quiet. Dark. Familiar, and yet not. A void of his own making, an emptiness all-consuming. A voice echoed around him.

It is not time. They need you. Return.

Falling. Faster and faster. Why was it always falling?

Golden eyes blinked open as he plummeted through the clouds that consumed Mythris. This was going to hurt. Resigned to his fate, he squeezed his eyes shut and waited for the impact.

But this time he did not find water, nor the cruel bite of sharp trees. Instead, he was greeted by a pillow of soft snow piled high in a drift. With a muffled plop and an explosion of powder cast into the air, he landed safely.

Unharmed.

A miracle.

Lying in the drift for several moments, he tried to orient himself. Where the hell was he? Where was the Howff? Where was his wife? His children?

Dread coiled in his belly, and he quickly fought his way out of the snow that had so kindly caught him. Looking around, nothing seemed familiar. It was an open field, yet it was littered with horrible fissures that glowed an eerie blue.

What the hell had happened?

Sarge’s mind was foggy. All he could recall was the intimacy he had shared with his wife. That… didn’t seem quite right. Nothing else came to him, though, and he let out a frustrated sigh.

In the end, it didn’t matter.

He needed to get home.

To her.

To them.

Elaine

Elaine had barely begun to understand her own fall when the world delivered another. She walked beside Rivers through the winter-bitten field, her steps careful on the frost-hardened earth. The blue fissures unnerved her; glowing veins of something ancient and wrong, but she kept close to the roguish wolf who'd found her half-dazed only hours before. His presence steadied her in a way she didn't yet have words for.

She was still learning him. Still learning this place. Still learning herself. But the sound that split the quiet, the heavy whump of a body hitting deep snow, needed no translation. Elaine's head snapped up. Instinct surged before thought and she broke into a run. "Someone's fallen," she called over her shoulder, breath fogging the air. She knew that sound too well. The rush of wind. The helpless drop. The way the world rose up to meet you with no promise of mercy. Her own ribs ached with the memory. The drift was still settling when she reached it, powder cascading down its sides like a slow exhale. A shape moved within it. Broad, powerful, struggling free with a desperation that made her chest tighten. Rivers would likely arrive a heartbeat later. Elaine approached the stranger with her posture low and open, healer's calm wrapped around her like a second pelt.

"Easy," she murmured, voice soft but steady. "You're safe. You're on the ground." The male shook snow from his coat, golden eyes wild with confusion and something deeper. Fear, grief, a frantic need she recognized even if she didn't yet know its name. He looked around as though expecting a familiar world to snap back into place. It didn't. Elaine swallowed gently. "I fell too," she offered, not as explanation but as connection. "Not long ago. I don't know why it's happening… but you're not alone in it." The fissures pulsed beneath them, casting eerie light across his face. Elaine kept her gaze on the newcomer. Watching the tremor in his breath, the way his paws dug into the snow like he needed the earth to hold him together. "Are you hurt?" she asked softly. "Or… is it someone you're trying to get back to?" His silence was answer enough. Elaine's tail swept once behind her, slow and reassuring. She glanced at Rivers, then back at the stranger. "My name is Elaine. This is Rivers." Her voice was soft as she gave the introduction, mismatched eyes shifting from one male to the other.

Sarge

Rune Discovery : 「 Success 」 

---

My! What an interesting and far-from-unique commotion that has stumbled upon you all. A wolf, falling from the sky! Reborn — Again! Mythris knows of this wolf, this man who has cheated death one too many times for the corrupted world’s liking. The earth seems to groan in growing disappointment, a thrumming sound that seems to come from the fissures in the distance from you all.

Words of quiet compassion, of kindness and connection seep into the winter air as you crowd around this stranger.

If Dre Klage were here, perhaps your fates would be different.

But instead, there is a voice that creeps into each of your minds: Lik! olir drire! (Look! Over there!) It is the familiar sound of the dream visitor’s voice that momentarily turns your attention away from the fallen man, certainly dazed as the piles of snow crumble around him.

It seems that in his descent, he unearthed something special. A pulsing blue glow flickers beneath the mound of white, sinking deeper into the snow pile, as your companion stumbles to his feet.

An lose ut! (Don’t lose it!) The voice inside your brain seems to snap. It appears the dream visitor’s patience might be unraveling. Shiel dre tlie, kiky! (In the snow, hurry!)

Rivers watched the cascading figure like a cat tracking a fly. Elaine saw it too, and he opened his mouth to offer something witty about the pattern emerging —

But she was gone! Racing after them at pace he found quite impressive, especially considering the snow. Graceful as a sugar plum fairy, he thought, and found himself rather enjoying the view as he pitched into a chase behind her.

Loping to a stop a stride behind and just beside her, he craned his neck to get a look at the newcomer. Rivers' grin widened around his pipe.

Pleased t'meet ye. He said after her, but otherwise Elaine had the introductions sorted. He was happy to let her take lead; probably best to hear a welcome from a fellow falling star.

That glow, though, someone ought to be prompt about. Crossing over, Rivers dug it free of the newly made crater. Nestling the rune in the bowl of his pipe, he offered amiably, Impressive entrance, by the way. Brought the luck along too, I see.

Too lost in his own thoughts to immediately register the strangers, he let out a low snarl before snapping his head toward the sky.

FICK DICH. Hör verdammt noch mal auf, mich ständig herumzuschleudern, du verdammte Schlampe. Ich hab’s kapiert: Ich bin schon wieder gestorben. Glaubst du etwa, ich hätte Spaß an diesem Scheiß? Dass es mir gefällt, in deiner beschissenen Dunkelheit herumzuspielen, während du mich anmaulst? Das kannst du dir sonst wohin stecken. Wo ist meine Frau, du verdammter Bastard? Wo zur Hölle hast du mich diesmal wieder abgeladen? Warum kann ich an diesem verfluchten Ort nicht einfach … wie ein ganz normales, verdammtes Wesen auftauchen? Wenn du mich nicht immer wieder zu meiner Familie zurückbringen würdest, würde ich dich jetzt in der Luft zerreißen, Queenie. (FUCK YOU. Quit fucking tossing me around, you motherfucking bitch. I get it, I died again. You think I enjoy this shit? That I like playing in your fuckass darkness while you scold me? Fuck off with that. Where is my wife, you fucking bastard? Where the fuck did you drop me this time? Why can I not just… appear in this cursed place like a normal fucking being? If not for the fact you keep bringing me back to my family, I’d be tearing you a new one, Queenie.)

His chest heaved with the force of it, the rage spilling out in one breathless torrent. Then he blinked, gaze lowering as he finally took in his surroundings, and the pair watching him.

…shit, he muttered.

If not for the fear and anger still simmering beneath his skin, he might have looked properly sheepish. Instead, he gave his pelt a rough shake and forced himself to straighten, trying, barely, to look presentable.

Sarge, he said, curt but not unfriendly. Not new to this land. I died. Again. The last word came out with clear venom. Pleasure.

A beat.

I need to get back to my family. His gaze sharpened. Where the fuck are we?

Elaine

Elaine flinched when the voice struck her mind. It was sharp, impatient, too close to the one that had dragged her from the sky. The words scraped like claws along the inside of her skull. She swallowed hard, forcing her breath to steady as the fissures thrummed beneath the snow. Lik! olir drire. Her ears pinned. She hated how familiar it felt. But Sarge 's outburst tore her attention back to him. Raw, furious, grief‑stricken.

His voice cracked the air like a whip, and for a heartbeat she froze, not from fear but from recognition. She knew that kind of pain. The kind that didn't care who heard it. When he finally sagged into silence, Elaine stepped forward, slow and deliberate, as though approaching a wounded creature who might bolt or bite. "You don't owe us an apology," she said softly. "Not for wanting your family. Not for being angry at whatever keeps throwing you back into the dark." Her gaze flicked to the sky he'd cursed, then to the snow where the rune pulsed faintly in Rivers' pipe bowl. The glow reflected in her eyes, unsettling and familiar all at once. "That voice," she murmured, almost to herself. "I think it's the same one that dragged me here. The same one that pushed me out of the sky." The fissures hummed again: a warning, a heartbeat, a demand. An lose ut. Elaine's breath hitched. She shook her head as though clearing water from her ears.

"We're not ignoring you," she whispered to the unseen presence, though her tone held more defiance than obedience. "But he just fell. Give him a moment." Nevermind the fact that she still could hardly comprehend how she understood the mysterious voice in her head to begin with. Then she looked back to Sarge, meeting his sharp, desperate stare with something steady and warm. She angled her body slightly, protective without being possessive, a quiet barrier between Sarge and the cold, uncaring sky. "You asked where we are," she continued. "I wish I knew. I woke here only hours ago. Rivers found me wandering. The land is… wrong. Cracked. Alive in ways it shouldn't be. Alive in ways I've never seen before." Her tail swept once, slow and reassuring. "But we can help you find your family. Or at least understand what's pulling us through the dark. Maybe." She glanced at the rune again, its glow pulsing like a heartbeat. "And I think whatever you unearthed… it matters. The dream‑voice wants it. Badly." Elaine then shifted a hair closer to Rivers, naturally gravitating towards his presence for comfort in the moment.

Returning to Elaine's side, he took her subtle shift as invitation, and let his fur brush against the plush white of her own. Sure does. Charitable thing t'do is keep it for 'em, I reckon.

Then to Sarge. We're happy to help, as she said. Back thataway — Rivers gestured with a paw, Few days off, there's a farm. And a rosy flame. Doesn't go out, doesn't burn the earth. Fancy magic. He grinned, as if it was the most normal thing in the world.

The shoulder rolled, shifting his point to the opposite direction. The way they'd been heading. A goddess there told me the friends I was looking for might be thisaway. It's an inn I'm lookin' for. Close to the sea. Fae-touched, if rumours be true. They were.