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Emmerich hadn’t forgotten about Dousan, but time stretched and obligations gobbled up his availability. After a month, Emmerich figured his services weren’t required or Dousan decided to give the ruins a wide berth.  A companion of his caliber had to have plenty of work to attend to in the safe branches of Homewood, why traipse out into danger? An uncomfortable feeling made Emmerich’s gut heavy, but he didn’t voice it, didn’t introspect, and let it sink into a dusty corner of his mind. When a deep purple scuttle scale popped into his and Elsie’s nest a couple days ago, asking after Emmerich for Dousan, the uncomfortableness burst into bright sunshine and Emmerich didn’t want to think about that, either. 

Emmerich and Elsie’s den was a snug clearing surrounded by tight pine branches, stamped clean and smooth from usage. There was a single entrance, where Emmerich had worked to break away branches to create a usable doorway, visible from all corners of the den. 

“You’re fretting,” said Elsie, snoozing in the warm shadows, her head pillowed by moss. She didn’t bother cracking an eye open. 

“I’m waiting,” Emmerich replied with a snort. Things had changed since he last saw Dousan, most notably his adept mark, a bright blue flame emblazoned across his breast. What would Dousan think of that? Why did Emmerich care? 

He packed a few supplies, straps across his girth and back where a few light saddlebags hung. A few provisions of dried fruit and nuts, a jar of poultice in case either of them was injured, and - by Elsie’s insistence - a thick blanket she’d help weave, rolled into a tight curl and strapped against Emmerich’s side. He wasn’t certain how long Dousan wanted to work the ruins, but Emmerich’s schedule was free for the next two nights, and he was more than willing to do a thorough job. Whatever it took. 

Footsteps crunched outside the den. Emmerich swung his head toward the noise. Too late. Elsie leaped from her sprawled position and zoomed toward the entrance, blocking Emmerich’s sight. 

“Good morning!” Elsie cheered back. She grinned over her shoulder. “Goose, your companion is here!” 

Emmerich stomped down the urge to retort. ‘Don’t call me Goose’ had been an argument since childhood, one he’d never won. Bringing attention to it in front of Dousan would only make s**t worse. Emmerich alspointedly chose to ignore Elsie’s usage of the word ‘your.’ She’d teased him relentlessly days after Emmerich first met the other buck, claiming her due diligence of sisterly duties.  They bumped and shoved at each other until Elsie stepped back and Emmerich could squeeze through the den’s entrance. He stared down at Dousan, momentarily quieted. 

Sunshine filigree shimmering gold across Dousan’s back, testament to his new rank of Adept.  Emmerich’s lungs twisted up in his chest and forgot how to function. 

He grunted to clear his throat. “Dousan.” He started down the trail with Elsie’s chorus of giggles at his back. “Grandfather tree called you back, too, huh?” 

"Scouting takes me away from her more than you do," Emmerich snorted. "And she's got friends here." The implication that Emmerich did not remained unsaid. It wasn't entirely true, anyway, Emmerich was friendly with most of the scouts and wasn't purposefully antisocial, but his priority was to protect Homewood and Elsie. Work didn't leave him with a great deal of free time to frolic for companionship. He did favors when aid was needed in his neighborhood, was friendly enough to the noulicorns Elsie brought to their den, but Emmerich had no disillusions about his reputation for being stoic.

Emmerich hadn't intended to dive deep into their adept initiation experiences, but once Dousan started, Emmerich quieted and listened carefully, his ears flicked back - the only signal to his unease. He hadn't spoken to Elsie about his own experience, and there was no other noul he trusted enough to divulge what happened to him. None, except maybe Dousan. There was something about the smaller buck that made his companionship easy as silk. Emmerich supposed a good companion was supposed to be like that, but the fact didn't lessen Emmerich's comfort around him.

Dousan's story hit him like ice water. He could picture it - Homewood grey and dying, consumed by the barrens, and Dousan, one spot of life in a dead landscape, pleading his case to the council. So small, standing up to all those winged lords while they scrutinized and glowered. Emmerich felt the urge to step in front of Dousan, to shield him, even though there were no council members here. They were plenty far from Grandfather Tree and its invasive visions.

"Did they listen?" The words were almost a snarl and Emmerich sucked in a deep breath with flared nostrils, sidestepping just a little closer to Dousan. There was nothing here to protect him from, but it eased Emmerich a little to know he could.

If Dousan's vision had been anything like Emmerich's, the council wouldn't have, or he'd have been sucked back to the barrens without an answer. If it weren't for the slash of blue across his chest, Emmerich would have thought his own vision was a punishment. Why had Grandfather tree called him, only to thrust him into an impossible choice? Dousan might not have regrets, but Emmerich did. It was sacrilege, but he couldn't help the pang of hatred that took seed in Emmerich's heart. Hatred toward the tree. He didn't regret his new abilities - more powerful magic made him more useful to Homewood and the noulicorns residing within. He'd shattered storms to keep foals safe and buried predators under snowfall. If given the chance, he'd take the test again.

But it didn't stop the growing black loathing winding around his veins. He couldn't tell Dousan that. He hadn't mentioned it to Elsie, but she suspected something, despite Emmerich's honed skills at hiding s**t from her. This felt like something that was changing Emmerich, permanently. And not for the better.

Dousan had shared his story, though, and Emmerich ought to offer... something.

"I killed something in my apprentice vision," he started, voice even and eyes fixed hard ahead.

"A cat beast," he clarified. "It was hunting me in the ruins, but some scaffolding fell on it. It asked me for help, but I left it to die."

A choice he wouldn't regret. He felt no need to explain himself to Dousan. As a scout, he'd taken out his fair share of predators, that wasn't something to be ashamed of. Cat beasts were invasive to Vykeli, killing off the slow numbers of wildlife Life Bringers managed to resurrect. They needed to be destroyed. But now dire rats were joining Homewood as allies and what the ******** did that mean for cat beasts? Emmerich didn't care for it. Things were changing, and maybe not for the best.

"When the tree called me back it made me..." he paused, grinding his teeth in an effort to force the words out of his mouth. "It made me kill something again."

Another pause. Emmerich refused to look down at Dousan.

"A noulicorn. There were two of them in the bog and I tried to get to them both, but I ******** up and..."

And he'd chosen to save the foal while the ascended drowned in poison water. He'd failed. Someone died because of him.

"I killed one of them."

The ruins rose between the trees in twisted spires of rust and steel, gleaming in the midday heat of the sun. Emmerich led them through the foliage cautiously, his ears perked and swiveling, breath held while he listened. Nothing more insidious than insect chirps greeted them, and he took the first few steps out of the wood to the moss-eaten ground surrounding the Other's dilapidated habitats.

“If the tree calls me back again, I don’t think I’ll go.” Emmerich finally sought out Dousan’s eyes and jerked his head at the ruins. “You ready to get some work done?”

The gentle warmth of Dousan pressed to Emmerich's side was like stepping into sunlight, grounding for the sparse moment it was there, and leaving lingering traces of comfort when Dousan pulled away. It was easier to except that simple comfort than Dousan's speech. Emmerich's face heated with embarrassment and he offered a silent prayer to the ancestors for gifting him with such a dark coat. His tail twitched and swished with nervous energy, but he forced his eyes ahead and his expression stoic. Companions had a gift with words, didn't they? Emmerich had never seen the appeal of them, but now... Dousan spoke with such sincerity that Emmerich felt it in his bones. Like a wash of relief, uplifting him from the grim portent of his vision. The weight of it was immense, but Emmerich didn't feel bogged down by it.

"I better keep the cat beasts off your tail after that speech," Emmerich rumbled a laugh and tossed Dousan a wry smile, the tiniest uplift in the corner of his lip. The discomfort remained, but the worst of it eased away from the forefront of Emmerich's mind.

Emmerich turned his attention the ruins, eyeing a spire of scaffolding that towered above the trees. "Better to start low and work our way up. We can mark places with unstable footing as we go, so if we need to make a quick dash for the ground, it'll be easier going." Cat beasts liked to stay high, and Emmerich would prefer to minimize what danger he put Dousan in.

Emmerich led them past the towering sections of habitation units and deeper into the winding alleys. Most noulicorns that chose - unwisely - to explore the ruins kept low to the ground, rooting through the homes and shops that lined the streets. Most places had been picked clean of interesting knick knacks, but it didn't stop foolish adolescents from romping through the mess on a dare. He stopped in front of a dilapidated white building with corrugated walls and a door that bent inward on broken hinges. The windows were shuttered with metal and the stink of humid dirt and decayed plant life oozed from the cracks.

"What do you think about knocking some doors down?" Emmerich glanced down at Dousan, ears perked. "Kids get trapped in these places. If all the openings were unobstructed, they'd have an easier way of getting through." He snorted, ears flattening of their own accord. "Might just be throwing up a sign to come explore, though. I don't want to encourage that s**t."

If there was one thing Emmerich found he could count on, it was Dousan's deep insight. In the short amount of time they'd known one another, Dousan had proved himself to be more than adept at getting into Emmerich's head. Surely he had the skill to do it with the average noulicorn. Emmerich would defer to whatever decision Dousan thought best.

Once again Emmerich found himself startled and delighted by Dousan's insight. Emmerich knew how to knock doors down and beat down the occasional cat beast, but the psychology of the average noulicorn boggled him. Teenagers getting caught somewhere because of adolescent pride was obvious, and Emmerich couldn't think of a single clear way to keep everyone from sniffing around places they didn't belong, but here was Dousan with an easy solution to keep them as safe as possible when they inevitably got trapped. Let the voices travel. Simple, succinct. Emmerich felt his face grow hot. He snorted and tossed his mane as if chasing off a fly.

"Let's check for basements, then knock some doors down."

Emmerich paused on the path, scrutinizing the dilapidated buildings surrounding them. A few were nothing more than moss covered shacks at this point, their doors already half removed by rust and time. They didn't pose a threat except for splinters, so Emmerich glanced over them. The larger buildings, the multi-level apartment complexes that reached beyond the canopy of trees, those were the real threat. A building that tall needed some sort of base to keep it standing.

Emmerich approached the nearest one with ears perked and eyes sharp. His hooves crunched over glass and Emmerich shot Dousan a muttered warning.

Several ground level windows were blown out, dripping with vines and thick, grey moss. The steel structure of what once was an awning became a rusted metal ribcage over the entrance. A jagged frame of glass were the only remains of the doorway and Emmerich knocked down the few juts large enough to catch on a noul in a hurry as he stepped into the building.

The floors were once smooth marble, but now they were dirt covered and pockmarked with divots. Crumbling pillars held up the ceiling and the moldy remains of a century old couch stank in the corner of the foyer, musty and green.

"Stay close." Emmerich said it out of reflex, positive Dousan didn't need the reminder. "A place like this has to have a basement. We'll find those doors and tear them out."