Listless and drifting among the inky shadows that swirled and danced about the seemingly endless void, Nick found himself adrift. His frame feeling compressed, stretched and pulled about at seemingly random, fruitlessly he swiped about attempting to snag hold of something, anything truthfully within this stygian abyss. Yet his paws found no purchase nor his hands among the wisps of smoke that danced about him toyingly. His lungs ached, longing for the purity of sweet uncorrupted air, his hands danced about attempting to clear the smog from his face and his vision, yet once more with each hand stroke the smoke would merely refill its missing void, laying heavily upon itself as he drifted listlessly, his eyes resting closed as his strength began to wane. The air about him cold, frigid almost, his fur was blown about by some unseen or felt breeze as he drifts aimlessly, the realm about him seeming so surreal, it was impossible to fathom the width and breadth, it felt as if he would merely continue to remain afloat for eternity.
His mind reached longingly for the warmth of sunlight once more upon his face, dreaming, hoping for a release from this torment, he opens his maw to speak, hoarse voice echoing emptily in the expanse "I… I couldn't have known this… whatever it is would happen."
His drifting carrying him forth, his mind prepared for the inevitable, when he felt something brush against the bottom of his paws, he flinches slightly, glancing downward sharply as he attempts to spy what exactly he'd made contact with, his weight slowly coming to place upon a slick surface, the trailing wisps of smoke dancing away to reveal… stone? Worn stone it would seem, water blasted and deteriorated. He shifts his stance, his toes flexing as he feels a wet sensation, a dull rumble issuing from about him… a slow building noise that reached into a gentle crescendo. He strained his ears glancing about him as he tried to take in the noise, the sound.. familiar to him in some ways. He blinks and furrows his brow glancing about as he moves a pace forward, the murky shadows parting on his path "Wait…. Wait I know that sound, water? No… but it can't be it sounds like… tidal movement? Waves? Where…" He pauses stepping forth as a foamy rush of bitterly frigid water dances across the surface of his path from the shadows around, slicking the trail heavily, causing him to nearly lose his balance on his following step.
With hands outstretched he made his way forward, across the uneven stones, their sandy surfaces blasted smooth and in strange shapes by the heaving of the water, he splashed along head craning to and fro as he slowly and wearily raised his voice, cupping his hands to his mouth to shout out "Judy?... Judy are you here? Something… Something is very wrong here… Anyone?" He shifts continuing along the uneven path, the trail leading him upward, he glances up, the slight face of a moderate incline revealing itself, comprised of chipped stones and pitted rock, each blasted once by the softly rumbling waves. He frowns curtly and shifts, taking a proper balanced stance before he tosses himself upward, snagging hold of the stone face with his claws and fingertips, sinking them into any ledge no matter the scale. He shifts, moving to pull himself upwards along the face of stone, glancing about idly as he begins to mutter to himself "Greeat going Nick, bunny tells you not to do something, and what happens, you do it… and now here we are here… trapped among our dear friends stones and more stones… Feh I suppose this is what you could call being stuck between a rock and a hard place…" He pauses, trying his hardest to make light of the situation..
He halts his climbing for a moment and shakes his head "Owch… yeah that was just bad, memo to self… Keep terrible puns under wraps…Just shut up Nick, that's what she would say.." He grunts hauling himself upward, his uniform growing mucky and dirty, a sharp outcropping splitting his shoulder's seem, rending the cloth there, he frowns and mutters a curse "Son of… I just got this fitted properly…Alright, focus, so here we are, climbing a near vertical cliff face, without proper gear, its a great plan, amazing plan..." He reaches upward, his fingers clasping to what he supposed was a firm outcropping till he felt it shift suddenly, he glances upwards as the ledge he'd clasped onto buckle and break, his weight slipping backwards as he was shifted off balance, for but a brief moment, nearly 9 meters from the jagged ground, he felt himself strike a sharp pang of fear, his eyes locked worriedly on the nearest upcoming lip of stone, knowing full well if he were to fall and strike the stones below him, something of him would be shattered irreparably due in no small part to the uneven nature of the stones below him. As he slides sharply downwards, his claws scabber for a grip anywhere. As he winces and braces for the inevitable, he feels himself take hold of solid stone and come to a jarring halt. He exhales tiredly, body quivering slowly as he feels his racing heart still, his blood rushing through his veins, a surge of energy and the drive to survive…. It was exhilarating, yet entirely terrifying in the same measure, after several slow and ragged breaths, he mutters "Never again… Watch your footing stupid, don't do something you would regret…"
With careful precision he moves to continue his climb, his hands and claws digging into the the stone as he broaches upwards, each movement slow and calculated, ".. See this is what she was saying about not being careful, it's gonna bite me in the rear sometime soon I swear it... But heck who knows where I really am.." He says with a rough grunt making a slight leap upwards to the neck ledge. "Maybe this is just a reaction, you know? Took a few bits of antibiotics for the cut I got last week… yeah… And it's just a bad reaction…Yeah that's gotta be the case, though I admit, I've never heard of this things being this lucid..." He shifts and places his clawed hand upon the next ledge, sharply feeling something inherently different with the stone then the prior rock outcroppings before, were as the stone before was smooth and slightly rough in texture, the object his fingers are caressing, was something, chiseled, something crafted it would seem, the texture and feel was of engraved stone, with moderate dips and slight bumps every now and then .
He hauls himself up, enough to gain a visual of the rocks in question, furrowing his brow as he does so, confused at what would be present at this strange angle and place. "What in the name of... Hello, what are you now." He pauses, tilting his head as he spies the strange object in question, carved into the stone face were stone glyphs, carved unto the stone clearly somewhat faded giving them a worn appearance, however the design and shape of the stone before him was utterly alien to himself. He tilts his head, sweeping over the various symbols and dancing lines and images, attempting to piece what he was seeing together in his mind.
The stone before him sat differently from the rest of the inclines formation, it was old, stone a blatantly different color compared to the stone that was found around it. Upon its surface deep inscriptions rested upon its face, elegantly done with no sense of crude work left in place, dancing lines and sharp dots punctuated the script. His eyes danced across its surface attempting to garner any and all information presented to him on his object, the wisps of smoke slightly obscuring the text presented. From his expert opinion, it was old, extremely so, something unsettled him about the manner in which it was placed and carved, a few figures, etched and drawn onto the stone drawing his attention, a formless mass seemed to be heaving on the stone's face, fleeting figures dancing about it, almost in… adulation? "Strange… very creepy, I have to say this takes a good chunk of my creepy experiences to bat…"
He pauses, dancing his eyes about it till they found their rest upon the figure atop the pinnacle of the stone, a stooped poorly etched figure sat upon a chiseled.. Rock? Throne? It was unclear due to the brutality of its weathering.. However despite the crude nature of the depiction, the squat figure's features were obscured harkening to a formless mass, tendrils reaching forth towards him, leaving only the haziest view of what it might possibly truly be. As Nick strained to see what this was, he felt a growing pain in the back of his head, a dull throb that only grew the more he strained to spy and devise the nature of the figure… something struck him as macabre about this, something occult and unnatural in the feelings this crudely scratched image dredged from his heart. He shifts, feeling his focus being consumed, he moves to twist his head away from the graven image, the feeling of pressure growing behind his temple, his heart danced within his chest, an unbidden wave of fear and dread for what this image forebore. There was something primordial something, unnatural about this fear, he felt as if he was gazing under the visage of something far older than himself, something wrought and malicious, for he stared unto the abyss with this engraved blasphemy… and the abyss was staring back. He shifts, eyes rapidly glancing downwards, panic overtaking him in a bout of irrational fear, he shifts wanting to be free.. Away from this image, from these feelings from this inexplicable terror… With a frantic heave, he tightly shut his eyes, striving to block out the feelings that rushed about his mind and moved to throw himself free from the cliff face, and plummet unto the inky shadows and stones below… With a defiant motion, he did so, straight forth unto the shadows below.
He was falling, the world turning about him as he drifted down and down, the world suddenly awash with a streak of scarlet across the midnight sky, his heart pulsing sharply, as it almost felt as if his heart had come to a halt. He clutched his chest as a titanic wave of pain washed over him, ripping through his nerves and biting into his body with unbridled savagery. With a strangled cry, he snapped open his eyes feeling the presence of heat and light through his eyelids, a burning light blinding him and drying his eyes as he cried out, arms violently coming forth, as they strained, something binding him, he flexes frantically as he strains against the bindings, fearing something beyond the light was attempting to draw him forth, encircle him and drag him back down into the realms of fear that he so desperately strove escape. With his pulse pounding in his ears he cried out, a strangled cry of terror and inexorable loneliness… He was truly to meet his end here, wasn't he?
"...Nick?! Nick!" A frantic female voice resounded and echoed in the wash of light, he froze, he… He knew this voice, something inherently within him knew the voice that called unto him. His frenzied flailing and straining grew lax, his body heaving with each rapid and shallow breath, the smog clearing away from his vision as he felt the warm glow of sterile lighting above him, casting a blinding light upon his countenance. He twitches sharply, eyes blinking to adjust to the harsh overhead lights. "Nick?! Nick! He moved he is moving! Can you hear me?" As his vision cleared, he vaguely could make out a splotch of grey upon the watercolors that were the world, a familiar almost warm spot of grey among the stark white about it.. Slowly his vision resolved into view, his eyes blinking away the murky depths of this, dream? Sharply Judy resolved into view, her familiar and cordial face twisted in a look of distraught fear, shimmering amethyst eyes wide in concern as she watched him intently, nose twitching eagerly at each of his movements. "Nick…. Are.. Are you alright? Can you hear me?"
Nick shifts slowly, resting fully in the warm embrace of the soft white linens, his body tired, drained almost, the ordeal he suffered had thoroughly drained him of his energy, he opens his mouth, muffled by a respirator, voice weak and cracking, "Judes? Is… What, where am I? I'm dead.. R-right?" He winces, wheezing out a chuckle, feeling fully elated to see Judy, however when she failed to even slight a smile upon her face, he knew something was afoot.
She tilts her head, placing a hand lightly upon his arm, as she shakes her head "No… No your not dead, you stupid fox, but… What happened to you? Something, came out of whatever you were piddling with, it choked up half the warehouse… I tried to pull you out but by the time I reached you…" She pauses and shakes her head voice wavering "You were… in bad shape, EMT's arrived as soon as they possibly could, we got you straightened out and hauled out on a med-evac, you've been out for nearly a day...are… are you alright?"
Nick tilts his head, cracking another half-hearted smile, his unshakeable facade blearily rising, his tone and voice aiming to soothe his partner "Heh… Yeah, I suppose something bad did happen. I don't.. Really remember, I had certainly the craziest dream whilst I was out to say the least, you know what they say, beautiful people need their beauty sleep, I was just catching some zzz's…" He nods, attempting to reach out and pat Judy between her ears, his arms suddenly lock only a few inches off the bed, he glances down, tugging again, only to find heavy straps binding him down to the hospital bed. He glances up worriedly at his partner and speaks in a quivering tone "Judy… What's… what's wrong? Why is this here…"
Judy would shift and raise her hands, lightly placing them upon his forearm, as he tugged again, still dazed and reeling"Listen… You… The staff said you woke up once before, you said a few things and then…" She trails off and shakes her head, lightly stroking his forearm reassuringly as she nods "It's just a precaution…"
Nick shifts, eyes widening slightly, as he tilts his head listening along to this information "... And? What did I do that required me to be lashed down like this…" He shifts attempting to move his feet, only to find himself clasped down in a similar fashion… He was anchored in place it would seem, his heart rate slowly rose in his chest, lightly chewing on his bottom lip worriedly at the implications of his current position.
Judy shifts and clasps her eyes shut and exhales in defeat, speaking softly as she nods "The hospital staff said you tried to claw yourself, there are scratches and cuts on your torso, they did it to keep you from hurting yourself…They said you were… frantic, crazed, their words not mine."She would shift about and place her hand over her mouth lightly, observing Nick, with either the intention to keep him safe, or worryingly enough keep others safe from him. Her intentions as of yet were unclear.
Nick shifts, glancing down to find, surely enough his own stomach heavily bandaged, heavy gauze rolls wound about his midriff, he blinks spying spots of faded crimson faintly visible through the heavy padding. He glances once more at her a sharp pang of worry welling up in his voice "I.. I what? I don't… I don't remember doing that… I didn't… I wouldn't… Nobody else was hurt right?"
Judy shifts and glances away, the quiet pain behind her eyes and the troubled musing provided him the answer he dreaded. "Nick… the Chief wants to speak with you about the incident, folks have been talking, let's just leave it at that..."