In the Heart of Pernelle

Episode 5 (1)

Inuro's gaze blurred with the monotonous view he was presented with, the same forest greens he'd been looking at for the past four days. His legs trudged on underneath him, slowly making their way over roots and weeds that clung to his dewed trousers. His eyes fluttered open and closed, trying to stay awake from lack of sleep. He gave a sweet yawn, stomach aching with emptiness.

"Do you see anything?" He asked Eirian next to him, scrutinizing the tops of the trees with his long neck as they walked. He lowered his head for a moment and shook it, solemn.

"Nothing yet."

Inuro nodded, accepting this depressing fate. His chest and stomach felt like it was collapsing in on itself, and Inuro's head spun with drowsiness. His ears were relaxed and tired at the sides of his head, twitching every time a twig snapped underneath Eirian's feet.

The dragon then lifted his head over the trees again, though he knew nothing would change, not for a few hours at the very least. He continued stealing glances at the boy beside him, noticing the worsening state Inuro was in. It had been roughly four days since we'd seen them last at the Condor's hut, and hunger had slowly eaten away at Inuro, making him tired and moody. Now, though, the young boy hardly had the strength to even express his emotions.

At one point as the two walked Inuro's foot caught under a root, causing the boy to trip and catch himself with scuffed up hands on the cold frosty weeds. He let out short gasp as he fell, knees scraping against the muddy dirt.

Eirian glanced down. "Are you alright?"

Inuro gave a silent nod and closed his eyes, forcing weak tears to stay hidden. He wiped at his dirty hands before continuing, giving a small reassuring smile to the dragon. Eirian wasn't convinced.

"Do you need to rest?" Eirian inquired, looking the boy up and down. He was still unfamiliar with humans and wasn't sure how bad Inuro's state was becoming, although he had his guesses.

Inuro shook his head. "I'm okay. Resting won't get us anywhere."

"Perhaps," Eirian said, "But neither will tripping on roots."

Inuro gave the dragon a weary smile before brushing of his concern. "I'll watch the ground. You keep looking."

Eirian wasn't satisfied with his avoiding answer and so he simply huffed in response, raising his head once more to glance about the forest. The two trudged on for some time more, Inuro half asleep and Eirian keeping watch as they moved. The sun spilled brightly onto them in speckled formations through the trees, though the cold still nipped at Inuro's nose.

The sounds in the forest gave way to the boy's light breaths, panting at the exertion he felt. He clutched his side in pain but could do no more to aid himself, only looking down in avoidance of any small obstacles he might trip on.

Not long after, Eirian became alert once more when he heard a soft thud from below him, and checking down he realized Inuro had slumped over onto the dragon's leg, eyes closed, body shivering. His head lolled about in an attempt to stay awake as he tried to regain his footing, but it proved to be utterly useless.

"Inuro?" Eirian spoke softly, lowering his head to be level with the boy's face. Inuro didn't open his eyes to look up, instead his head slumped over his chest, limp.

Eirian felt anxious while looking at the boy's weak body, knowing now that his suspicions had been correct and Inuro was in worsening condition. He glanced around for a solution to this problem, panic slowly starting to buzz in the dragon's ears. He didn't know how to take care of a human, he hadn't done it in centuries. No idea seemed to come to Eirian's mind and instead he just sat down next to his friend's body to keep him warm, hoping the boy woke soon enough.