"I don't sleep, I can watch if you two want to bother with it."

Gale glanced around, frowing at the unfamiliar territory.

"Not anymore, atleast. Right, friend?" Kenna smiled as if he was talking about something only Gale would know.

"So I guess Ireth and I will get some shut-eye then?" Kenna sits himself against a black boulder and unsheathes his sword again, laying it beside him.

She was tired and thought some sleep might help clear her mind. She sat down and crossed her arms, leaning against a boulder of her own. A thought crossed her mind and she felt scared because of it. She realized that it was possible to get tired in Hell...and what scared her was that all the pain people went through would prevent them from sleeping, so just how horrible would that be to also be extremely exhausted, but you're unable to sleep?
Ireth shuddered and shut her eyes, praying they wouldn't get caught. In a few short minutes she was asleep.

"There is no rest in the sleep of this world," he mumbled to Kenna as he sat down and laid his sword on his lap. At least in a place like this he could see what was around him.

"I know, but when you lose yourself in the illusion it's almost like the real thing." He shut his eyes and laid his head against the rock, nodding off slowley.

Anyone watching would notice Ireth twitching and mumbling in her sleep. In her dreams she was back home, living the simple life that she loved. But it didn't take long for the dream to take a different turn; suddenly the whole village was on fire, and the sky was a black void. Everyone lay burning on the ground, although they were dead and did not move. She screamed in her dream for someone to hear her, and when somebody did, it wasn't who she wanted it to be. The doors to the burning houses opened and out of each one stepped a demon. One of them was Torin, this time dressed all in white.
Ireth wasn't able to move in the dream, only watch as Torin moved closer, followed closely by jealous looking demons. Ireth wondered why they looked so envious of Torin, and as he stopped within kissing distance of her, his hair moved and she was able to see his eyes.

At this point Ireth's body in reality stopped moving.

Gale stared at the ground, "When I sleep I dream...of all the people I've failed." He drums his fingers on the blade of his sword, it'd been a long time since he'd just sat and thought like this.

Where was she?

She had no name to call her own. No recollection of existing on any plane except this one. Perhaps she had been here this entire time? It was odd, she thought, that she was of the damned, yet she had no idea why she had come to be here.

Without a sin bound to her soul for eternity, she often found herself wandering. Groans of the wretched rose from the muck at her feet as they clawed at her legs, yet she kept walking. Without a punishment, she reasoned, she had a far better chance than escaping than the bodies that writhed and moaned around her.

Unfortunately, sitting and thinking wasn't very pleasant considering the setting. At least in life there was a sense of chance, a sense of possibility. Nothing changed here. Today was the same as yesterday which was the same as a thousand days from then and a thousand days before.

Still...he'd found a familiar face, but that brought more displeasure than any sort of comfort. Who else was down here? He reminded himself to think who might really be down here - not just who he feared to be. His initial thoughts of family were tacked off quickly. If his father was even down here, he could do without seeing him. One...could he be down here somewhere? Gale frowned, his brother's blood was on his hands.

He let out a sigh, he almost rather be back in the Styx.

She paused suddenly, sensing a familiar presence. Confused, she turned around, gazing off in the fields she'd already crossed. She had never associated herself in her time here with anyone that she could recall.. Why is she recognizing someone now?

After what seemed like an hour, Kenna stirred from his sleep quietly. He observed Gale, then his surroundings. It was just as if he'd never slept. It was all the same. It's what drove one mad.

"Have any estimate on how long I've been out? I'd hate for more demons to come looking for toys."

Gale stared foreward, glancing at Ireth and Kenna every few minutes to see if they were still resting. With each glance, he grew more aggitated. Just how long were they going to sleep?

With a growl he stood up, picking up his sword. Where were they anyway? It was too quiet here. Someone should have confronted them by now. He begins to stray away from the pair. He'd just walk a bit, he wouldn't let them out of his sight. Not like much could sneak up on you here anyway...

And then Kenna finally woke up, "I can't tell anymore, maybe an hour? I haven't seen anything, was about to take a walk."

"Well then let's go, I'm sure it's safe enough here to let the girl rest." Without a glance at the elf, he sheathed his blade and began walking twoard Gale.

Gale snorted, "Safe? It's certainly quiet - that's why I'm wary." He looks down at Ireth, "I wish we had a wagon or something, that'd make things easier. ...Any idea where we are?"

The woman watched two beings emerge from what appeared to be a cave. Interesting.. They were hiding?

She gazed at them momentarily, wondering if eye contact would trigger that sense of familiarity.

He grinned as he stopped and looked at the plains once again. "A wagon? With what to pull it?" He stopped and thought a moment, then shook his head and laughed.

"Hah.. The only animal-like creature I've seen in my time here are the Hell Hounds, and they're none too friendly. I made my blade out of some of their bones, but I didn't kill the thing."

"We'd have to do it, but we don't even know where we ar-" Gale's froze when he realized he was being watched and quickly pulled his sword off his shoulder and turned to the newcomer with his weapon raised - only for it to promptly clatter to the ground as he stared at her.

She took a step back, frowning. She had been in fights before, and expected this to end no differently, How foolish she was, approaching strangers on a whim!

"Y-you..." Gale's eyes were locked on the woman, everything else around him melting away. But if it was...why didn't she... He was quiet for a long time, but eventually managed to speak in a quiet voice, "Who...are you?"

"It might be someone else," he told himself. You see things down here.

Ireth awoke with a start as the blade hit the ground, and quickly noticed Gale's stance had changed. Following his eyes, she saw a woman not too far away.

"I couldn't tell you that. Although, I have a strange feeling that I know you."

Kenna's hand rested on his own sword as he watched the two, his own mind puzzled with the girl. "She's one of the lost. Do you know the girl?"

"God...damnit."

Any attempt Gale made to speak quickly died in his throat. He took a deep breath, "...Why are you wandering in a place like this?"

He held his hand up to Kenna. Maybe if she forgot...it was better.

She gave him a quizzical look for a minute. Why is this being showing such interest? She chose her words carefully.

"..I've always been this way. At least, that's how I've thought."

"You...don't even know why you're here?" He managed with some ackwardness. Without breaking eye contact he took a small, cautious step closer.

"No.. I don't." She watches him approach uneasily, but doesn't back away.

Ireth stood up slowly, knowing that something strange was up. She stepped a little closer to Kenna, not wanting to get in the way of whatever was going on between Gale in the stranger, but watching with interest just the same.
"Any idea what's going on?" she whispered to Kenna.

He seems about to take another step, but ultimately decides against it. His eyes sink to the ground as once again he struggles for words, "Do you...want to leave?"

Kenna looked at the girl, then to Ireth. "I have a feeling that if he knows, deep down I might. She does look strikingly familliar."

Her eyes widened slightly. "Well.. Yes. Who doesn't?"

"Come with us!" Gale blurted out and quickly regretted. He cursed himself and continued, "I mean...we're trying to find a way out."

She considered this for a minute. It was always safer to move in groups, assuming the group members could be trusted. Did she trust this man?

"I.. suppose. But, why me?"

"Er..." Gale wracked his mind for something to say. "Because...uh...I knew you...once."

She stared at him for a minute, gaping.

"I can't remember. I know I must be here for something that I did, but I can't remember anything.."

He mumbled something under his breath before looking up, "Come with us. There's bound to be demons here soon."

Ireth looked a little annoyed. They were trying to find a way out? What was all that talk about there being no way out, and this being as good as it got? She didn't say anything though as it really didn't matter.

Torin muttered to himself in the language he spoke most in the living realm and then stood up. He shook his head slightly as he stretched. He was growing rather bored of watching the useless beings jumping one by one from the cliffs. There just was no more excitement in this place. He walked across the grounds and back into the cave. He figured the group was already captured by now, or lying in a near death state since you can't actually die again in this place but only for a minute. He came to the cave entrance and was rather surprised to see them standing there with a newcomer that he knew was quite from the human world.

He leaned against the wall crossing his arms just within the shadows and watched intently through the strands of hair over his face. This might be interesting considering the emotion he could feel off of Gale. He found himself with a slight grin, not an actual smile, because he can't recall that ever coming anymore, across his face as he observed the dried blood on her. He knew it wasn't her's.. she wasn't wounded.

Kenna began walking across the plains, nodding to Gale as he passed.

"If we're going to take another, hurry on. If you want to try to find a way out, we should head for that mountain." He pointed to the old, black rock formation in the distance, the way Torin pointed before. Without waiting for reply, he unsheathed his curved blade and held it behind him with one hand, making the long haul to the mountain.

Torin watched Kenna pointing towards the mountain of the arch elder demons and shook his head. Neverending immortal suicide was what that was. Actually daring to go to the high arch demon's domain? It was almost enough to make Torin laugh. And before they could even reach that mountain, they'd have to go through Minos' palace. Perhaps he'd study the group a bit more, he wasn't sure yet.

He kind of felt a bit pathetic lurking and watching a sad group of souls when he himself could waltz right into the inner chambers of the high arch's palace within the mountain. He was one of the few demons who could.. what makes these souls think they could, probably because they did not know what awaited them. He shruged the thought and turned his gaze from Kenna to scan across the group.

The woman gave a very slight nod. "All right.."

She was curious to know what the man knew about her. He must know her name.. Maybe he knows why she's here. She frowns slightly, wondering if it'd really suit her to ask.

Gale lingered behind as Kenna passed, shuffling his feet. He turned to Ireth, "Eh..you girls go ahead of me. I'll watch our flanks."

She stared at him for a moment, then shrugged and moved a little ahead of him and began walking with the new stranger.
"So..do you even know your own name? Anything?"

She shook her head. "The only thing I know is that I've been here for as long as I can remember."

Gale waited a moment and let out a sigh. He quickly scanned the ground for his sword, picking it up weakly and slinging it over his shoulder. Taking a few deep breaths, he continued following the group, his eyes never leaving the woman.

Kenna looked over his shoulder at the rest of the group. He observed that Gale seemed uneasy, and he had a strange feeling about the newcomer.

"Curiouser and curiouser."

Ireth snuck in her own glances every once in a while, feeling weird. She didn't know anyone else in this group, so why was everything so strange with this newcomer?

"Where were you...in this place before you met us?"

"I have never stayed in one place for very long. I have no punishment for my sins while alive, because as far as I know I've never lived. Although..." She glances over her shoulder at the man behind them before falling silent.

"Although, what?" Ireth asked rather quietly, looking over at the new girl while walking. "You and Gale seem to have some sort of connection. But he seems to be the only one who remembers anything about you. He's hiding something."

"If he does know me, then I am here because I have sinned in a past life. My damnation is justified." She sighed a little. "Strange as it sounds, I'm actually sort of grateful."

Ireth turned her head to look at the path in front of them again and shrugged.
"Not neccessarily...I was not damned, just unlucky. You never know, you might not deserve to be here either."

Gale's knuckles turned white as he gripped his sword, constantly glancing around him. Where the hell were they even going, and why was it so quiet? It wasn't possible for them to be alone down here. His anxiety only grew when his eyes came back to the woman. He was suppose to be here, not her. When he died he had-

Maybe he really was just crazy, it'd explain enough. But she was here, it was really her, or what had become of the woman he knew. He felt terrible about it, but he really was happy to see her again. And feeling that down here is what worried him the most, but even so, there was nothing he wanted more than to talk to her.

Maybe he'd get to later, maybe.

"Maybe.." She stared straight ahead, not making eye contact with Ireth. "What was.. your world like?"

Ireth was a little surprised at the question for seem reason, even though it was not shocking in any way. It just felt weird now to think about life before this...it was strange to think about anything rather than surviving, actually.

"Well...I only lived in a small part of it, in a forest. I used to live in a small village of people like myself, although we all trained in different forms of magic. I don't know how many people in the world could use magic, because I never left my village. We led as simple a life as we could, trying not to be attached to possessions. I was going to be married, but we all got killed before it could happen." Ireth kept looking straight ahead, not liking the anger she felt. It felt like it was the attackers' fault that she was now here. "There was pain in the world, but most times there wasn't."