When it rains, it pours (Completed)

when it rains, it pours

Iruma placed a hand over his chest and the other dug into the wet grass and dirt.

"I... I... it reminded me of them..." he shivered. "But-but-but I could always manage... so I don't know why I'm..."

Finishing his sentence wasn't necessary for Kalego to know what he was going to say.

Suddenly, Iruma placed a hand on the tree and pulled himself off the ground in one quick movement. He took one step before his knees buckled and he collapsed back onto the ground, with his chest hitting the mud. A whine escaped him, and he began to hyperventilate just as much as before as he picked himself up with shaky arms to lean back against the tree.

"Iruma, are you injured anywhere?" Kalego asked. The sudden fall had startled him, and Iruma did say he fell earlier...

Iruma shook his head, and it looked like he was about to try pulling himself up again. "I... I need to-"

"You need to calm down first," Kalego snapped, and Iruma tore his hand away from the tree and turned to him with wide and teary eyes.

"Listen to me, Iruma."

He nodded.

"First of all, you are not alone. You summoned me, and I'm here to help. Understood?"

Another nod.

"You are allowed to be scared, Iruma. In fact, I think it would do you some good considering how often you jump headfirst into danger."

Iruma averted his gaze for a moment and nodded once more.

"I can see that this brought back some unwanted memories, and it's normal to be shaken up by that."

"But-"

" And even if you've been fine by yourself before, that doesn't mean you'll always be fine. You've clearly been traumatized by events in your childhood, and that's what's making you panic now."

Iruma's eyes widened. Hopefully some of that had gotten through to him.

"Slow down and let yourself breathe. Trying to power through will only exacerbate the issue."

For a moment, there was silence save for Iruma's breathing. He closed his eyes and leaned his head against the tree.

Kalego watched him breathe.

Inhale, exhale.

"Okay," Iruma whispered.

As Iruma began to calm down, Kalego seized the opportunity to figure out where the hell they were.

The heavy rain from earlier had turned into trickles, making it easier to see. He flew up above the trees to get a... bird's eye view of the area.

In the distance, he could see Babyls, and he could figure out a path to lead Iruma there. That would be best, considering that when the summoning seal wore off, Kalego would still be in the area to help him.

He flew back down to find Iruma's breathing a lot slower, and his head hanging forward a little.

"Iruma, can you stand?"

Iruma opened his eyes slowly and blinked a few times. He was very clearly out of it, and Kalego knew that asking him to fly would have taken too much out of him.

Iruma slowly lifted himself up onto his feet. Kalego noticed Iruma was shivering a lot, and remembered that his coat of fur had been shielding him from the cold weather, but Iruma had been fully exposed to it.

His legs were shaking a little, but he could stand. That was good.

"Follow me, okay?"

"Okay..." he mumbled.