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He was supposed to be dead.
His chest seized, spasming as he choked and hacked. Something sat in his lungs. Copper filled his mouth, but so did the taste of rot. Gasping, he thrashed. There were hands on his body. Hands brushed through his hair—where was his helm? What happened to his—
His boyfriends. Where were his boyfriends? Were they okay?
His stomach spasmed. Doubling over, he coughed. Through cracked-open eyes, he saw blood—thick, dark, congealed blood—dripping onto the dirt. Someone was holding him, supporting his neck, murmuring to him. He shouldn’t be alive—what was happening? How was this happening?
“Ssh, Cyno. It’s alright, you’re okay. Everything’s going to be okay.” Nari. There was Nari, he was okay. Alhaitham, Kaveh—where were they? Were they alright?
His stomach seized again. Choking out what he had a nasty feeling was more congealed blood, he curled in on himself. Everything hurt. His ribs, his left wrist, both his legs. Hands wandered over his legs, checking his bones. It hurt. It burned. Gasping, trying to pull away, he forced out a strangled noise. As much as he didn’t want to frighten whoever it was, everything hurt.
Things were coming back, slowly. He’d thrown himself in front of Tighnari and Kaveh when they were about to be attacked by a Ruin Guard in an enclosed space. Alhaitham had been on the other side of the room, Kaveh had already been on the ground. The Guard must have hit him instead. Must have hit the wall. Got thrown. Broke bones.
How am I back?
Continuation, Hermanubis growled in the back of his mind. Flinching away from more touch, more hands on his bruised skin, Cyno gasped. He turned to Hermanubis in his head.
What do you mean?
I am unsure. But it was for the sake of continuation. We would not still be tied together otherwise. Wheezing, Cyno grasped at his stomach. Pain split his joints, his spine. Someone was stroking his hair back out of his face. Not Tighnari. He could feel callouses, worn hands, scars on the fingers where they brushed against his head. But also, his head was pounding. His heart thundered in his throat, his ears, he could barely feel his fingers. When he moved them, trying to see if they were even still there, more pain cracked through his blood.
“Oh, baby. It’s okay, it’s alright.” Tighnari hushed. Then, quieter, like he’d turned away, “He’s got broken bones. I don’t think they healed when he came back.”
“And the blood?”
“Well, he was out for—” Things faded. His blood was on fire. His mouth was filled with copper and rot. Kaveh’s attempts to soothe him found a burning spot on his head. His vision went white. There was dirt in his mouth, against his lips. Clutching at his chest with broken fingers, Cyno choked out—something. He didn’t know. He didn’t want to know.
Where was Alhaitham?
Coughing and spitting, he gasped again. He couldn’t breathe. Fire laced through his skin, his blood. Tighnari and Kaveh were fine. He needed to know about—
“Hey, hey, ssh, ssh,” Kaveh soothed. “It’s okay, what do you need?”
His voice didn’t work. He couldn’t—he couldn’t talk. “I’m back, I found it.” Alhaitham announced. Slumping into the dirt, Cyno squeezed his eyes shut. Even with his eyes open, he couldn’t see very well. Everything was blurs of too-bright color. “How is he doing?”
“I don’t know. There’s a lot of blood.” Tighnari admitted. “I think he broke a lot of bones when he was thrown into the wall. Other than his neck. Kaveh, let me check his head.” More hands slipped around his head. They found the spot that turned his vision white.
On instinct, Cyno lashed out.
Throwing an arm out, he grabbed for Tighnari’s arms, claws out. He didn’t even know how he was calling on Hermanubis. He just was. Yanking his hands back, Tighnari pulled away. There was more hushing, more attempts to calm him—
The world dropped away.
+
Cyno woke while Alhaitham was carrying him.
They’d changed him out of his clothes and bandaged his wounds—his head, his neck, his arms, and legs. Even his hands had been bandaged, torn at the pads and palms where he had been scraping the ground. It had hurt walking in to find Cyno on the ground, choking up blood and in the recovery position as he panicked while his body kicked back into gear. Now, Cyno had Tighnari’s hoodie on, the hood pulled up around his ears. He was wrapped in both Alhaitham’s and Kaveh’s capes to fight off the shock.
The fact he was alive was enough.
The potion recipe they had come to the ruins to try and find, thinking it was a wild goose chase and that they may as well clean up the monsters in there, had worked. It was a healing potion—it would help people back at the Bimarstan. Under normal circumstances, Tighnari and Alhaitham would have been testing it on themselves. This time, though, with Cyno coming back from the dead and being in so much pain from broken bones they couldn’t fix, they’d decided to try it out on him. And it worked.
From the look of things, Cyno was going to be sore. They’d have to wait for some time to see if there were any aftereffects, and they were going to stop by Aaru Village so Candace could double-check. Tighnari hadn’t been able to find any internal bleeding. The only things he had found were six broken ribs, fractures to his skull, and more breaks in his legs and arms. The Ruin Guard had thrown him into the wall with a lot of force. But sore was better than dead.
Mouth falling open, Cyno let out a soft groan. His eyes cracked open. Glancing down at him, Alhaitham cracked a smile. “Hey, Cyno. It’s okay. You’re okay.” He murmured. Sucking in a breath, Cyno tilted his head to the side. He buried his face in the space where Alhaitham’s neck met his shoulder. His nose was a bit cold, he probably needed some warmth. When they got to the Village and he had the chance to lie down, then they could help with that.
The desert was cold, especially since they were travelling at night. Normally, that was a horrible idea. They wouldn’t risk it otherwise. In this situation, Cyno needed medical attention urgently. From Tighnari’s observation, the dark blood that Cyno had been coughing up was probably because he had been dead for over an hour and a half. Some of it had started to congeal, especially in his lungs where some had pooled due to the broken ribs piercing at least one. Other than that, especially after the potion, the worst injuries Tighnari could find were bruising.
In his arms, Cyno kept breathing in a stuttering, pained pattern. He cracked his eyes open again. Maybe it was a trick of the moonlight, or maybe Alhaitham was just seeing things, but his eyes weren’t their normal orange agate color. They were glowing and golden. Hermanubis.
“You protect him.” He murmured to the spirit. “You better keep him breathing. We’ll take care of everything else.”
Blinking a few times, Cyno groaned. His eyes fluttered, he let out another soft sound. Then, he was asleep again.
Up ahead, Kaveh glanced back. “Is he alright?” He asked, pausing at the top of a small dune. Hauling himself and Cyno up to Kaveh’s said, Alhaitham nodded.
“He woke up briefly. I think he’s in a bit of pain. Looks like that potion isn’t a painkiller.”
“Probably just an effective healing potion.” Kaveh hummed. “We need more of those anyways. Painkillers can only do so much.” Again, Alhaitham nodded. As he studied the horizon to see how close they were to Aaru, Kaveh settled a hand on Cyno’s forehead. He smoothed his hair back, adjusted the hood and the capes around him. A few soft murmurs were spoken, soothing a man who couldn’t hear.
Not too far away, he could see Aaru. The lights were lit, and there were some people at the edge of the town. Apparently, they spotted Alhaitham, Kaveh, and Cyno in the moonlight. People were running for them, and Alhaitham nudged Kaveh with his shoulder. Hurriedly, the pair made it down the slope, Alhaitham cradling Cyno close.
Tighnari met them first, panic on his face as he ran up. When he’d run off to warn Candace and Aaru earlier, he’d had to tear himself away. Still, he was the fastest runner and was the least likely to get attacked by anything out there. Reaching out with shaking hands, he moved to touch Cyno’s face. “How is he?”
“He woke up a few minutes ago. I think Hermanubis is keeping an eye on him.” Nodding, Tighnari helped Alhaitham move Cyno onto a stretcher that had been brought over. One of the medics from Aaru was checking his vitals, and then Tighnari was hurrying away with a glance over his shoulder. Cyno was being taken somewhere. A couple of the other Aaru villagers, soldiers, helped Kaveh and Alhaitham back to the Village.
Cyno hadn’t been the only one hurt. It was just…easier to ignore with Cyno in danger. As Kaveh had come down the slope, his wounded leg had started bleeding again. Alhaitham’s own broken wrist was reminding them of its presence, and his own bruised ribs ached.
No one said anything as they followed the others.
+
This time, Cyno knew he was meant to wake up—and this time, he was in a lot less pain.
There was someone curled around him, an arm thrown around his middle and their chest pressed to his back. Cracking open his eyes, he glanced around. It was dark. Nighttime, clearly. A blanket was wrapped around him, and he wasn’t in his boyfriends’ clothes anymore. For some reason, that hurt more than it should have.
There was also someone next to him in a chair, head rested on their arms. Gray hair, though without his hearing aids. Alhaitham. Breathing a sigh of relief, Cyno turned and looked around. Kaveh was the one lying behind him. Tighnari had somehow managed to squeeze himself into the small space left on the bed. Honestly, that seemed pretty normal to their actual bed.
The door opened quietly, and Tighnari let out a low moan. Raising his head, he squinted past Cyno. When Cyno turned, he found Candace walking in. Golden-blue eyes landed on him, and she smiled.
“Cyno. How do you feel?” She asked, voice hushed.
Cracking a smile, Cyno rasped out, “Like I need to see if anyone got the collar number on the Sumpter Beast that ran me over.” Shaking her head, she came to his side. Gentle fingers pressed to his wrist, checking his pulse. Then, she checked his forehead. “Am I as hot as I normally am?”
“So ice-cold? No, you’re fine.” Candace replied. Reaching out, Tighnari nudged her with narrowed eyes. She sent him a smile. “Alright, alright. No offending the injured wife. I see how it is.”
“Kaveh is the wife. Get the phrasing right, Candace.” Cyno joked, wincing as his voice crackled again. Pulling out a small cup of water, Candace handed it to him. Carefully, he sipped from it. “Thanks.”
“Hmm. Just make sure your boyfriends don’t murder me in my sleep. Aaru Village still has need of its Guardian, after all.” She paused, then added, “It would also be nice for you to not nearly die again. For everyone’s sake.”
She settled a blanket over Alhaitham’s shoulders. In his sleep, the man hummed and shifted. He didn’t wake, though. Dropping his head back down to the pillows, Tighnari rested his tail over Cyno’s legs. Kaveh let out a soft snore. “I’ll keep that in mind. Thank you, again.”
Nodding, Candace slipped out of the room, leaving them to get some more rest.