Ahh the gorge with the lake was a place that he hardly visited, even when he was a wanderer for the longest time before being a leader he barely came here and it was sad really. Why? Because this place was so beautiful in its own right. The large cerulean dark waters with a hint of some mineral inside it. The bowing of the forming rocks to protect its vicinity from wandering paws becoming too curious. The beautiful backdrop of the ice caves and northern mountain systems. This entire location was breathtaking, eye catching and wonderous. Though it may have been a tad too cold for his liking that is, he didn't mind making more trips up here to see the lake itself. Perhaps if the air was a bit warmer he would take a dip if it didn't risk him getting hypothermia. But not today, no it was too cold for that. His golden paws would take a tip on it's own though, testing the waters as the ripples echoed out forth into the oddment of the resource. His bones would creak giving him a reminder to pull out his paw now as the poor limb was starting to freeze. Whoops. The golden man would walk around the lake, slowly with purpose as he watched the ripples from the shore line until ultimately disappearing into nothing more than just a watery surface with little to no signs of life, now that made him sad. He wanted to give life to this lake - this standalone being lost out in this great beyond.

So what did Vasilis do? Stupidity ran through his mind and his body reacted to it without cause for concern. He dips more of his arm into the lake, causing larger ripples in the lakes surface and there he would go again. Walking to follow where and how far the ripples would cast before his reach, and when they would disappear moments later, Vasilis would walk over again dipping MORE of his arm into the depths. Vasilis better stop this, his heart tells his mind as his mind snorts the warning off 'do it more' the whispering voice came out from its depths. This caused him to stop dead in his tracks, he was egging on his alter voice - that reckless voice - of his within his body and he knew if he continued to do this it would take over and make him put more than just his limb within the watery surface. So he stops mid pause with half of his entire leg in the water and slowly....very slowly might he add...did he pull it out until tiny ribbons were created from the droplets that fell from his toes.

nymeria made the travel north today with purpose etched along her steps, mind buzzing as she sought to restore some of her medical cache with some much needed herbs. unfortunately, for her, there were a few things that only grew within the thralls of the tundra, and the icy breeze was quick to poke and prod against her flesh upon arrival, chilled even in the early summer months. nonetheless, the druid's head remained low to the ground as she sought the familiar sight of usnea and garden cress, which were sure to be scattered amongst the lake's shoreline, tail lofting idly behind her frame as she continued on, unaware, until --

a flicker of gold in her peripheral was quick to snag her attention, crown raising almost absently in fashion as her eyes shifted from the earth to the source, not quite sure what, or who, had found its way into her company. but the moment that her gaze fell upon @Vasilis' body, nymeria felt stillness cling to her bones, chest constricting at the sight of the long-lost familiar face. she remained frozen for several extended moments, waiting for, perhaps, the mirage to dissipate once more. but it never did. "i feel like i'm looking at a ghost," the woman expelled breathlessly, the easy candor of her words betrayed by the mask of shock and confusion that trailed along the edges of her features. it had been so long -- so terribly long -- and she would have been lying if she said she had never thought about him, never worried about him. to have Diuris reappear now, after all this time, seemed almost too good to be true, like some cruel and tempting twist of fate. but for now, nymeria would simply find herself stuck in place, ears tilted forward as she scanned his next movements for some sort of reaction. some sort of proof that he was, in fact, real.

'Why stop, hm? Dip it further...deeper.....leave it there..' the voice echoed - his brows would pinch at the echoing words into this mind 'no, I will not..' he replies back. His paw finally moving away and being securely placed onto the cold shoreline of the lakes embrace. 'awwe, come now. don't be so scared..Vasilis' the voice snakes and he flinches at the meaning behind the way the voice spoke his own name. Their name. Biting the inside of his mouth he turns his attention away
from the watery surfaces of the lake before startling to stop. As if he had seen a venomous snake just before him and he had to refrain from making any short or quick bursts. But this was no snake, nothing so venomous or dangerous. This was a lost face across a sea of memories. No, this wasn't real and just like all the other times a face would come before him - it would be from invoking dreams moments before he had actually managed to fall asleep. You see the nightmares were ever so charming even now, that what sleep he had was quickly ended not only due to the snaking thoughts and voice inside himself, but from the nightmares of his past. A past that without medicine would always chase him.

The other before him , a memory he dubs, doesnt move - and thus his echoing voice laughs and mocks him 'seeing shit again ol' boy?' that was enough to tell him that the creature was indeed a mirage given to him from the anger of the voice inside his mind for betraying the whispering taunts it gave. "Your not real.." he tells himself sadly. But oh was he so wrong, that beloved - endearing and extremely missed creature before him was so very real. He drops his toes to the earth and forces himself to move, though slowly at first as he mumbles again "Your a dream..a walking dream that always haunts me.." he frowned with his head now cowering atop his normally proud frame. 'oh dear boy its more than that' the laugh that echoed next was painful to his ears, he shuns his head to the right from the snake of his mind 'stop it stop it stop it' he chants over and over again.

she stared for a few moments, doe-eyed and confused to have stumbled across @Vasilis after so much time. it felt almost like a life ago, and, frankly, it did not make sense to find him here, of all places. his golden features stood out starkly from the backdrop of ivory and grey, and she, too, wondered if it was a trick of the eye or a silly dream — but then again, when had her eyes ever deceived her? the good, the bad, it ugly; it always appeared so clearly, even when she did not want them to.

hesitant still, nymeria would opt to move forward a few, small steps, pale eyes never once leaving the man’s features as his expressions were quick to twist, and falter, and fall. "diuris," she said, louder this time, more sure, as she sought to swallow the majority of the space between them. the druid was well aware of the demons that inhabited him, and of their cruel, taunting ways. but she could not deny the pain that struck her at his proclamation that she was nothing more than a mirage, or another trick of his mind. Even as he turned from her, the valour continued, lips twisted downwards in a mixture of grief and concern before she spoke once more. "diuris, it is me. it’s nymeria." she affirmed, reaching forward with a single wheat paw, hoping that she may graze it across his forelimb, should he not pull away. it was the only thing that she could think of to prove to him that she was, in fact, real.

Vasilis made a few more movements forward, his mind echoing a laugh as it looked at the expression that Nymeria was now sporting on her face. The needle threaded with a poison lace then started to prod at Vasilis mind and soul, slowly staining it with an invisible illness. Vasilis forces himself to pick his limbs up and walk again when suddenly the snake within chants one more time, 'tick tock, tick tock, we're running across the clock..' the voice whispered in his mind - still echoing words and this time stupid idle chattering's that made him go mad with rage, he wished the snake was real so he could smack the smug look off his lips. But alas it was himself he was up against. Coiling his ears backwards as he took a few more steps, the words echoing in his head when suddenly his name was said yet again, but this time with a hint of something he couldn't put his toe on. Sadness? Fear? Longing? Pain? He wasn't sure which it was because his stupid twin wouldn't shut its trap in his mind 'yo ho ho, tick tock tick tock, running along the clock, watch him watch him...tick...tick....tock.' he wanted to swipe at the air, to make the visual twin of himself fade away from his attack, but the sounding of his name and then the gentle brushing of toes on his forearm caused him to still in movement.

'Duiris..' @Nymeria spoke softly this time, and oh so closer. He turned his head only to look at the toes that had touched him, his brows pinched in uncertainty, his eyes watering a moment as his heart wanted to believe that was something real and not a figment of what his mind used to betray him daily. His heart stammers within his broad chest as his lips chanted yet again. "A mirage...your not real....no
ones real any more....shes not here....its all...just.......ghosts...playing with me." he started to say 'ghost, ghost oh here a ghost, look look - oh there she goes..a ghost a ghost a ghooostt.' poison was now slowly moving into his mind and over his eyes, was this really ...a figment as his other self was proclaiming her to be? Slowly he raises his eyes to look at her own - the pain within them made his heart pinch. "I'll just hit the ground again..like always..." he reminded himself that if he TRIED to hug this visage of Nymeria like he had done a year ago, he would meet the earth with a harsh slap to his nose. And over and over again for months he would accept that mirage of her and over and over again he would meet the earth with some part of his body. SHE was never really there, ever, her voice was just an echo in his mind - her appearance was just a tease to his eyes. But oh, did her toes feel so vividly real when they touched him. Perhaps there was a tree or shrub that he grazed against and that was what he felt. So Vasilis started to eye around 'her' body to see what would have touched him in place of 'her'. Poor Vasilis had been tricked for so long that he didn't realize that this was indeed Nymeria herself. "Must be a trick...always a trick...always alone.....never there...always a melody in my head I can't reach out too.." he speaks aloud as he scans for any explanation to what he had felt.