He sniffed around quickly as he went, turning swiftly down a few streets. They eventually became alleyways, and he stopped. It was an alley, but on one side was a regular building, and on the other was the towering wall of the castle. He sniffed the wall off a castle, finding a loose pile of rocks against the wall. He began eating them, digging around a bit. After a moment, the rocks tumbled into a hole in the wall, taking Tanzy with them. The hole was dark inside, and dust flew up. She would hear the Echo of his scrambling, and the rocks rolling about.
Her eyes widened and she dropped to her kneels, looking around in panic for her companion. “Tanzy? Tanzanite...?” She started to try to follow him, her hands trembling.
Rubble led her back to the ground. It was incredibly dark, but as her eyes adjusted she would find herself in a vast crypt, pillars towering to the ceiling. It was made entirely out of dark stone. She heard Tanzy barking in the near distance.
She looked startled but began running towards the barking, still focused on her goal. “Tanzy, c’mere boy!”
She had been walking for a bit, and finally Tanzy came to her. There were horns made out of branches protruding from his head, as they did when he was frightened or angry. He nearly hopped into arms. There was a voice in the distance, weak and scratchy. "Hello..?"
She hugged Tanzy to her chest, her hands trembling as she whispered gently to Tanzy, trying to calm him. She hesitated, backing away from the voice nervously, trying to avoid being caught.
There was a pause before it called again. It sounded like man. "..Hello? Are you there? Or.. a dog, or something? Please help."
She hesitated, kissing Tanzy’s head before heading towards the voice, her hood over her head and her eyes wide with nerves. “...hello?” she called softly.
She hesitated, approaching the noise slowly, her light pink cloak brushing along the stone floor as she walked. “I... I don’t know. Are you alright?”
Eventually she would see something. It was a young man, hair grown over his face and bandages wrapped over his eyes. There were chains around his wrists and ankles. He looked rather weak. To the left was a lever, which seemed like it might be attached to the cuffs and chains. "Uh.. I don't know.."
She looked very concerned, reaching out one free hand to brush the bars. “Who... who are you? What are you doing here?”
"My name is Melas," he said, "I don't.. I don't really remember why I'm here.." He tugged on the chains, whimpering slightly. "It's been so long since I've heard another voice."
The whimper seemed to weaken her and she looked around hesitantly. “What... what happened to your eyes, Melas? Why are they bandaged?”
She hesitated, looking around, her vision still fresh in her mind as she squinted at the bandages. “I’m not sure, sir...” she said uncertainly. “You... could you come over towards my voice, please? I want to try to see what I can do.”
She paused, setting down Tenzy gently as she studied him, approaching Melas slowly. "That's... okay. That's fair. I'm sorry, sir, you need to understand my cautiousness. I'm approaching you now, alright? Please don't lash out."
She stood in front of him for a moment, studying him carefully, her brows furrowed. She reached up and hesitated, her hands mere inches from his face. "I'm going to take off your eye coverings," she told him gently. "Okay?"
