The Heartwood i could cause an extinction-level event.

he's kind of at the mercy of whoever finds him! :3c

death cheated!

but now it came for him with raking claws. an athletic form had been lost to lean, terrifying lankiness of the once seadweller.

his rear end met the ground with a thud. exhausted! he thought he saw the hulking form of shardik with every snap of a branch or rustling in the brush. YOU! he bellowed through a hoarse voice. in the dark tree tops, he thought he saw its face.

come and get it,

he hissed through narrow eyes.

but he was already slipping, unable to keep himself upright anymore. and when he met the earth in full, when his head found a snowy ground, he was out.

A shout, a boy, young, injured. Sialuk drew near, unsure if he would survive the next few hours. He was not with the waking world, but Sialuk could not leave him so. She went to work, cleaning his wounds with her tongue. Whatever had done this too him had wished him dead. Sialuk murmured prayers to the ancestors, leaving only briefly to gather herbs to pack his wounds and stave off infection.

feel free to timeskip and pp as needed! :3

shardik, his brain whispered in fever dreams.

he's here. here's his touch, his teeth, his tremors.

he did not know it was a woman of well meaning who healed him. who tended to the hot flesh of things that had once almost healed. his lips twitched, eyes rapid beneath the closed lids.

you are a man. a boy. bearcurse!

he did not know that he tried to cry out in his sleep.

There was more Sialuk wish she had, but she made do with what was readily available. If he did not survive the night, she would know that she had done all she could. Dreams consumed him, and she cursed the spirits that troubled him. Had he not been through enough? Sialuk kept her eyes watchful of his teeth, ready to evade an errant slumbering tooth.

When she had cleaned and dressed his wounds as best as she was able, she set herself close to him, sharing her warmth so that he might sleep more soundly. The raindrop remained awake, ears twitching as she listened for his labored breathing.

losing time to the waking world was a blessing and a curse in equal turns.

his dreams were often fevered and frenzied. always facing the bear, always facing his turmoil and guilt. he thought he could feel shardik at his throat. the pain there the same as the pain he had felt in his rear. the tugging, the pulling.

the dream felt fast, over in moments.

he had not realized that the night had blown through in his time asleep. that when he woke with a pained jolt, too much time had already gone by. somebody was there against him. somebody kept him warm in the cold forest.

yet he was choking on his own gasping need for air, and his eyes felt like they could widen no more in his sunken features.

The night came and went. Dawn took its place, casting strange rays of sun. And the boy breathed. Haggard, but alive.

Then, choking. Sialuk stirred from her half-sleep, turning to face him head-on. Breathe, she said as calmly as she could, her eyes pleading with him. In, like this—Sialuk took a deep breath—and out. She exhaled slowly and continued to show him, her chest expanding and collapsing in slow rhythm. If something had happened to him inside, she would not be able to mend it.

in and out.

he tried. for a moment it felt like he was underwater. like no amount of grappling with his lungs gave him enough air.

but eventually he steadied. faced with the mountain woman who guided him in living.

still he did not feel fit to speak.

so he stared, mouth slightly agape and startled by the whole ordeal.

Little by little, his breath steadied. The dancing lights would wait another day. She had not fetched food for him, not wishing to draw any predators near to them while they slumbered. I am called Sialuk Ostrega, she said. Can you speak your name? She did not know if the beast had taken his voice.

he had been quennell. a boy who did not lie or cower. a boy who had wished for the world and found it lacking, cold and unkind. broken by it and unable to yet put the pieces back together.

quennell had been a good boy growing into a fine man.

that was not who sat here. half slumped against her with sunken features and riddled by an infection. that was not the boy who had screamed at things not there until his body had laid him to rest.

his mouth smacked together with a dryness.

his voice refused to start for a moment, but it got there.

bearcurse,

now he looked to her, wondering if she saw all the things he felt. beneath the tired flesh.

"Bearcurse."

Sialuk did not know if this was his true name or merely what had transpired on him. It did not matter now. If she did not move him soon, he would rot from the inside out. Even if she was able to get him back to Moonspear, she did not know if he would survive the coming weeks. His condition was one of the worst she had seen in her time alive.

You must walk if you do not want to go from this world. This woman cannot protect you without help of her village. The boy needed food, water, and shelter. She could not give him these things alone.

he wanted to say he couldn't. that he could stay here and it would be fine. everything would be just fine.

only they both knew it wouldn't be.

he stared at her for a few slow beats of time. understood that he had rejected help once and now nearly paid an ultimate price for it. he would not survive rejecting someone another time.

a little nod of understanding.

only he knew he could not make the walk on his own and so now he looked to her with a pleading gaze for support. silently baring his shame in his weakness.

Their journey would be long and slow. She looked at Moonspear in the distance, then back to the boy bathed in sunset tones. Sialuk would shoulder his weight as much as she could, stopping whenever his body needed to rest. The starwoman knew that she would need the help of other healers. She thought of Elentari, Alaric, and Bridget, too. The latter would need to be sent for, but Sialuk thought it a good use of the retainer they had spoken of.

fade here? and i can start another in moonspear. <3