The Abandoned Courthouse

He heard the screeching of claws upon wood and stopped. He listened for a moment before discerning the sound to be coming from razor. His scent was stronger now, thankfully, but it was not yet close enough to be safe. He quickened his pace to the husky, worry and cautious hostility flitting across his face as his paws danced upon the wooden floors, nary a creak following after him in his progress. He was soon upon the much smaller scent of another animal and he growled. Hopefully it was gone, but he would be cautious in case of emergency. He tensed his muscles in preparation of a fight and continued on, finally coming upon razor. He quietly sighed in relief and checked his scent. It wasn't as worrisome, but he might have to get that cut checked after this adventure if his. It still faintly smelled of rust and pain. He announced his prescience with a loud click of his feet upon the floor as jumped slightly, allowing a small creak to echo through the halls.

"Be cautious. Your wound smells of pain again and there is a most worrisome scent ahead." He whispered, glancing around as he did so, stiff as a metal pile that resided in the city.

As he twisted, he could distantly smell Anir's scent. He simply paid no mind to it, and continued to do his work. Razor opened his jaws a bit, releasing his grip on the wooden knob. Saliva coated the knob, and he recoiled slightly with disgust. Razor muttered a brief curse. How exactly now was he supposed to get in there? He had to admit- this adventure was getting a little boring. His dual-colored gaze lingered on the knob, analyzing it. The only conclusion he made was that the door could be locked from the inside or something. And the only solution he could make out was to knock down the door somehow. Of course, Razor lacked the strength in order to do it.

A voice behind him startled him a bit. He whirled around, and saw Anir standing before him, warning him about his scent. Oh right, the smell of blood and pain. "A bit of more exploring wouldn't hurt, yes?" He gave the older male a quick smirk, and left. This time, he moved a bit slower. It seemed that the smell had gotten stronger.

Anir watched him walk away for a moment before following after with a disbelieving shake of his head. At least he was trying to be careful this time.

"Fine, just be careful. I don't want to have to dig a hole in the cement just because you wanted to explore a bit more." He muttered the last sentence to himself with a small glare before he hurried to the husky's side. He didn't recognize the scent, so he didn't know what to expect, making him tense and more volatile.

The smirk fell off his expression as he continued moving forwards, his tail bobbing excitedly behind him. Yes, the scent had grown notably stronger as he moved forwards. Perhaps there was actually another canine around these parts. And this time, Razor actually listened to his ally. He was more careful this time. His ears were perked, and his nose was open for anymore smells.

As the scent had grown stronger, his temples creased. He would've confirmed the presence of another canine in the building. The marks left behind this supposed canine was fresh. How strange. Razor squinted his eyes, and moved a bit quicker. He made his way down another corridor, and saw an open door. Curiosity once again affecting him, he ventured into the room, eyes widening slightly. His breath hitched. Before him was a resting lightly colored bulldog facing in the opposite direction of the entrance. Razor was quite sure the bulldog was still alive and well. He wasn't sure if he should make the attempt of quickly leaving. If he did the sound of his paws scrambling against the stone would surely make him wake up. If he didn't move at all, the other canine could surely wake up to something strange.

He followed behind razor, grateful of his increased caution at his warning. As the scent grew stronger, he became more and more puzzled and his muscles were so tense it hurt. When they finally found the scent, he tried looking over razors still body as best as he could. He grew frustrated and nudged his body over slightly, his claws sliding across the stone and causing a small screech of protest to echo into the room beyond. He froze for a moment before relaxing and stalking forward and past his current ally. He observed the sleeping form with his he'd held high. He sniffed slightly and whirled back at the smell of river and blood, along with hints of puss and pain. This was not good.

He hurried over to the form and pressed his nose to the dog's neck, pressuring the fur and looking for a pulse. A faint thump pressed into his nose and me nudged the dog to try to wake him up. This was not good at all...

He felt a light nudge at his neck. He stirred a bit in annoyance. His eyes opened slightly, and managed to crack a slight grin despite the situation. So, it was Anir who was now always looking out for him? First the small cut, now this? There was a throbbing sensation in his skull, so he shook his head a few times in attempt to get rid of it. His muscles had grown lethargic from running around the place. Razor guessed his adventurous side of him had gotten the better of him instead of his usual better judgement. He attempted to rise from his spot, but he failed, collapsing back in his spot. The husky paused before speaking, "I guess I'll be here for long." He snorted.

He knew he should've taken Anir's words more seriously. At this rate, Razor would've been dead; long dead. Who knows how he managed to live right up until this point. He shifted slightly, his half shut gaze lingering at a nearby window.

He growled in annoyance and went back to Razor, checking his injury and pausing as he saw the rusty color that was starting to spread through the bandage. He stared at it for a second before he shook his head in sadness and nudged razor into what he felt would be a more comfortable position. He ran past his body to their beds downstairs, grabbing the extra rags and a ratty blanket, along with one of the less moth eaten pillows, wrapping everything up in the blanket and carrying it up to the fallen husky. He quickly nudged the corners undone and dumped everything out of the blanket, placing it underneath the husky as well as he could in the small amount of time he had. He tore off the bandages on his injury and used one of the bloody rags that was still relatively clean to apply pressure to the site of injury with one of his paws. He placed the pillow next to his head and nuzzled his neck slightly in comfort before focusing his attention on the wound once more.

He allowed his muscles go relax after suffering from the previous injury. His gaze followed his friend, who was frantically running about to fetch his healing supplies. There wasn't much for Razor to do now, and all of he could think to do was to fall asleep. The scenery wasn't all that appealing to the eye, unless someone thought that gray was an interesting color to stare at. The husky closed his eyes, and stopped stirring in his rest.

The cold stony ground forced him to stay awake. The embracing warmth he normally felt while he was falling asleep wasn't there. So instead he just laid there with his eyes closed, darkness looming before him. The wound began to sting, but he ignored it.

He nuzzled him a bit with his nose once again, a bit rough with his movements.

"Don't sleep," He whispered furiously. "If you fall asleep, you won't wake up." He kept repeating that as he kept pressure on the wound, applying the bandages when the blood finally slowed to a crawl. He tied it as well as he could and laid down near the husky. His eyes wanted to rest as much as his ally's, but he couldn't sleep. He had to stay awake for his... He supposed he could call him his friend. He had tried helping the dog twice now, and hopefully he could stay alive long enough for him to be able to do that many times over. Even if it meant the death of the bull in the other room. Some one you new was always more important than someone you just met. Even if you did just meet the husky maybe an hour ago.

He shook his head of those thoughts and watched the husky, hoping he would be able to wake up.

His ears twitched slightly at Anir's words, stirring slightly. Right, he would be dead. Though, the fact of falling asleep forever seemed to be a bit enticing, but he couldn't just leave his bud behind like that. "Fine." He couldn't sleep anyways. His muscles shifted slightly, along with his bandage. Razor felt a burning sensation now that he moved, and shifted again. Yeah, moving around wasn't going to help a lot. Razor paused for a moment. His eyes flickered open again, and emitted a sigh. His gaze traveled sideways at his wrapped wound, blinking slowly. "There's another dog around. Be careful," he muttered. "I can't move around like this." He lifted his head, and gazed at the doorway.

"Don't worry," He muttered, relaxing slightly. "It came here to die." He looked back at the dog for a moment before settling down once again. Hopefully, he didn't die from blood loss. He shifted closer to him to give him as much warmth as he could, as he couldn't do much else.

The stinging sensation slowed to a numb feeling. The husky sighed a bit. He could feel his eyelids drooping. He had to stay awake. To stay awake for Anir's sake. And so he forced his eyes open, expression calm and relaxed. "You can check the other rooms if you want. I'll be fine here." He glanced briefly at the doorway before returning his attention to Anir. Razor didn't want his ally to be lying about without checking for other stuff around these parts. Who knew, there may be another creature running about. He lifted his head slightly, and cracked a slight grin. "No worries. I'm not dying on you."

He nodded and nuzzled Razor gently and got up.

"I would hope not." He called back as he headed to the first door they had passed. He sniffed the edges for hostile scents and, having found none, backed away to the other side of the hall before running full speed into the door and ramming it in an attempt to break the doorway. He succeeded only slightly and it looked to be a tight squeeze. One he could make, but bothersome nonetheless. He squeezed through the small passageway and looked around. It didn't seem to have anything that could hurt him and nothing of value in return could be found. Having found nothing, he exited the room and headed to the next door. This time he tried opening it without damaging the frame, since one day, they might need a room that was at least partially safe. The door was unlocked, thankfully and he opened the door with little difficulty. There was a bed in the corner that had what looked to be a chest with a broken lock. Nothing else of value could be found. Light shone through a small frame towards the ceiling that looked to be a window but could be used for the entryway of birds. He supposed he could move his friend to the bed when he became well enough to move a small distance. The other rooms had broken doorways and held nothing but the ravaged remains of cloth and bone and the occasional skeleton.

Satisfied with his finds, he headed back to his friend, where he laid down and attempted to warm the injured husky.

All of the crashing on the other side of the building that Anir caused was a bit frightening. He had to admit - Anir was starting to act like him, always running about and running into stuff. At least his friend had returned from his short journey. As the warm feeling returned, he lowered his head and flattened his ears. The dull pain in his shoulders started to ache. He winced a little. Nope. The husky couldn't move at all like this. Not in a while. The only solution was to simply go to sleep, but Anir wouldn't allow him to slumber. Pausing, he glanced over saying, "Find something good?"

If Anir didn't find anything important, he wasn't all that surprised. The husky didn't find anything special, so why should the Labrador retriever? Through exploring the building, there wasn't much to see, other than the stone walls and the skeletons. They weren't quite pleasing to the eye.

He nodded his head slightly and looked at the injury. It seemed to have slowed down a bit, bloodwise.

"Not much," He mumbled, curling closer. "I found a room that we might use once you're able to move a bit and a couple of skeletons, but other than that, nothing's here that hasn't already been scavenged or submitted to rot." He huffed slightly and laid his head down in between his paws. Hopefully the wound would stop bleeding soon. He supposed it might take another twenty minutes, but after that, it should be clotted sufficiently.

"You should be able to sleep soon," He stated with a nudge. "In about twenty minutes, the bleeding should've stopped enough for you to not be in danger of sleeping forever."

As he expected, there wasn't anything to see around these parts. The husky gave a short sigh. He didn't seem to be surprised at all, his expression set firm. It would be better if Anir didn't find anything too interesting though, mainly because the husky probably wouldn't be able to fall asleep. Being the type of dog he has, he yearned for exploration and seeing new things. And waiting for something while unable to move would greatly annoy him. Plus, he would feel an strange ebbing feeling in his chest as he waited. Almost like waiting to discover some kind of treasure of some sort.

The warmth provided by his ally made him sink into a tired feeling. His mind was blank for the time being, and his muscles were relaxed. He felt himself nodding off into sleep, and he did nothing to stop it. As Anir said, he would be able to sleep soon. So, why not now? His wounds didn't hurt as much, and he couldn't find a reason not to.

He noticed the husky falling asleep and growled in warning, gently biting his ear to show his protest.

"I said soon, not now, you silly pup." He grumbled and pulled his ear, laying his muzzle within the inside. "Don't make me shout. I will do it and if you try anything, I know how to injure you without leaving a mark, be it mentally or physically, and I don't care if you're not afraid of me. I'm not losing someone I consider a friend, be it by disease or disgust." He blew into his ear slightly and withdrew his muzzle, biting the edge as he did. He got up and laid down a foot away; he would move back once he gave his answer of temporary submission and a new friend or tried domination and the loss of an ally.

It was clear to him that Anir didn't want him to fall asleep. He recoiled a bit. Creasing his temples, he flattened his ears, and sighed. "Fine, fine." Despite how kind his friend seemed to be, he simply assumed that Anir was a somewhat of a risky type. One shouldn't wander in a place like this, surrounded with barbed wires and such. Another thing is he cleaned a stranger's wounds. The husky shifted slightly, and raised his head. His ears twitched with annoyance; there was a subtle pain in his ears now Anir had bitten it. Wonderful. That was getting along with the dull wound. Well, that least that would distract him from falling asleep.

Razor was usually never the kind for conversations, but he supposed the two of them needed to pass the time. Frowning slightly, he asked, "Where are you from?" The husky was curious where the Labrador was from, and how their paths managed to cross.

He nodded his head slightly and went back to his friend, laying down next to him and trying to settle down. He twitched slightly at the question and closed his eyes, thinking back to the first place he remembered. It was an old warehouse near the trading yard and it was filled to the brim with rats. They kept him up the whole night and when he moved the next day, he was so tired, he forgot to check for enemies and fell asleep on the spot. Thankfully, he got out of that patch without any lasting injuries, but he learned his lesson; No matter how tired or hungry or thirsty he is, he needs to check the perimeter for enemies. He took in a deep breath and released it after a moment. He let the silence stretch for a minute before replying to the husky's question.

"I'm from here, but I'm not too sure where exactly I was born." He started quietly, slowly wording his sentences to tell his friend his answer. "I can't remember anything before I was half a year old, and even then, it's a bit fuzzy. The farthest I can remember is a warehouse by water and what used to be a trading yard. It was filled with the rot." The rats were too intelligent to be normal. They must have eaten some of the rot and spread it amongst their followers on instinct.

The husky listened to his story, nodding his head slightly with interest. Razor didn't remember much of his history actually; it was very vague. But he did remember the warm and comfort he received in his earlier years. Funny, now he was out in the streets with another random canine.

"As for me, I was raised by a human with several other huskies in the north." He could remember the soft snow beneath his paws, the barks and shouts of his former acquaintances, and the refreshing feel of snow hurled at his face. After going outside, he would lay by the warm fire, with a machine that would generate a slow tune. The memory of his past made him feel a bit nostalgic. With that picture in his mind, he began to relax. Was now the time appropriate for sleeping? Hopefully some time had passed. The husky lowered his head, and closed his eyes. He clung onto those kinds memories.

He watched the husky with sadness. His family would be gone by now... Oh well. He'll just have to make another life for himself. He watched the husky close his eyes and smiled. The blood had slowed to a crawl. He nuzzled the dog and curled closer to give warmth.

"You may sleep now, if you wish." He mumbled, closing his eyes as well. "You have a low chance of sleeping forever." His thoughts drifted as he waited for sleep himself, listening to his friends breathing.

The last thing he remembered before falling asleep was Anir's gentle voice. Finally, with his permission, he could finally fall asleep. He could feel himself slip away from reality, and drift into a calm slumber.

He dreamed of the days when he was young. Surrounded with friends, and racing with one another. He imagined of the tight straps pressing against his fur that was connected by the human's sled. The lead canine, who was much older than him at the time, was barking out commands. Left! Right! Move a bit further! That's what the lead would say. But, what happened to all of this? What caused him to be pulled away by such a family? He didn't remember. And now that he looked back on it, he was frightened about what happened. At the moment, he was living in the past, no the present.

He stirred a little, and muttered, "Someone should stay awake to keep watch." The husky was the wounded one, so he guessed Anir should be the one to keep watch. That wasn't his only reason - he wanted to stay in his past a bit longer until it faded away.

"Rest, my friend." He murmured, looking ahead. "I hope you enjoy your dreams." He hummed sightly. He tried making a tune, but the only one he knew was sad. He supposed he could try that. He started the melody, his growls mixing in to make it gruff but gentle, meant to lull someone to their dreams in the past. He had used it once when one of his allies had been dying and had fallen asleep. He had given them a path back to the happy times, when their family was alive and had not succumbed to the rot.

He was amused by his friend's attempts to bring him back to sleep. He felt like the gruff melody was a bit harsh, though it was fine enough for him. Funny, the song Anir hummed was nearly identical to the song his owner would play. The humming reminded of the older times when he was young, giving him a nostalgic rush. And for once, he like he was home already. He found the memories of his home in a place like this. An empty, deserted building, but with a friend to remind him of the times.

He sank into a deep slumber, safely aware that his friend was keeping watch for possible dangers. Razor thought he should do something to return the favor.

He continued humming as he watched the area in front of him and at the edges of his vision. Nothing changed, no new voices, no new sounds, no nothing. It was silent of everything but his hums and growls, his friends breathing, and the dog far away that came to die.