Chapter Text
The last few days for Chilchuck had passed in a blur of pain, which first had started when Marcelle had healed him after their fight against the red dragon. Marcelle was quick to assure him that they were healing pains and that they were normal, before immediately turning to heal Senshi as well. The initial healing had been agony, and had hurt far worse than his head does now, but the pain never quite went away entirely. His head throbs as they cut into the dragons stomach. His head throbs as Marcelle uses that black, evil magic to revive Fallin. His head throbs as that damn mad magician takes Fallin away and tries to kill them. His head throbs as he talks with the pale Orc, Leed. He pushes through the pain as he searches for their supplies. After all, he can’t let a little headache keep him from gathering their missing supplies, Laios and Marcelle are both still injured and unconscious. He can’t afford to rest or take it easy when half of their party’s down. The constant pain makes him feel much more vulnerable and emotionally raw. He cries and begs Laios to return to the surface. The red dragon fight was brutal, and now they’ve fought it twice. And now, that mad mage seems to personally want them all dead. They need to get out of the dungeon quickly. He doesn’t want anyone to die.
After Laios agrees and they all begin to make their way back up to safely, the days blur together in time with the blurring of his vision and the twisting of the dungeon. Being in pain for so long, the act of trying to ignore his pounding, aching head feels like second nature to Chilchuck. After all, they have to get the hell out of this dungeon as soon as possible. And, more pressingly, find something to eat, based on the rumbling of everyone’s stomachs.
The next morning, from the moment he wakes up, everything fuzzes in and out of clarity. His headache is blindingly painful, and he feels dizzy. His internal clock tells him that this is the time he normally gets up, but he can’t will himself to get out of his bedroll. He rolls onto his side and buries his face deep into his blanket. This blocks the light and makes his headache ease marginally. He really, really should get up soon. But, maybe a couple more minutes to rest his eyes won’t hurt. And it might help ease his headache some. He dozes off.
***
He wakes sometime later to a hand on his shoulder. Someone is shaking him.
“Hey Chilchuck, wake up” he hears Laios say cheerfully. “Senshi is finished with breakfast.”
Chilchuck gingerly sits up, and owww, his head didn’t like the change in position. Fortunately, Laios has already moved on to accept a bowl from Senshi and goes to sit next to Marcelle by the cooking pot, so he hasn’t noticed Chilchuck’s wince of pain. Chilchuck realizes with dawning horror that not only is he the last one to get up, but Senshi, Laios, and Marcelle have already put away their bedrolls, dressed for the day, and are starting to eat breakfast. He didn’t mean to oversleep that long.
He hurries as quickly as his head allows to throw on a clean change of clothes as well as his leather armor, neck wrap and boots before walking over to the rest of the group and sitting next to Marcelle.
“Good morning sleepyhead,” Marcelle teases. “Glad you decided to join us.”
“Shut up,” Chilchuck mutters, rubbing his eyes. He sluggishly accepts a bowl from Senshi and picks at his food. It’s some kind of orange soup. That’s weird; he can’t remember from what monster they got this. He remembers running into dead end after dead end, the pain in his head, the rumbling off everyone’s stomachs, but no monsters. He can tell it would taste delicious if his tastebuds were up to a meal. After all, no matter what monster they eat, Senshi always somehow manages to make it taste good. But today, it just tastes bland to him.
While he eats, Chilchuck takes mental inventory of his body. He feels… odd. Nauseous and a little sickly, like maybe he caught a flu or something. His muscles feel shaky, and his normally perceptive ears ring with pain from his head. And beyond that, he also feels off in a way he’s never quite felt before and doesn’t know how to place. He does his best to shake the feeling off; they have a long, dangerous trek back to the surface, and he doesn’t have time to not feel well.
The soup settles heavily in Chilchuck’s stomach. He gives Senshi back the bowl only half finished.
Senshi accepts the dish with raised eyebrows. “Not feeling hungry this morning?”
Chilchuck shakes his head, then winces. Ouch. He makes a mental note to not do that again. “Nah, I’m fine. I’ll finish it later. Or one of you can have it”
Laios takes in his ragged appearance. “You feeling ok?” He asks, eyebrows knit with concern.
“It’s not like you to sleep in this late.” Marcelle adds.
It’s all too much. “I’m fine, geez!” Chilchuck retorts. And to demonstrate how fine he is (because he is fine, dammit), he makes his way over to his bedroll and other belongings. He can feel everyone’s eyes on him as he puts his things away. He must have been convincing enough, because their conversation quickly resumes as they begin to clean and pack away the bowls, utensils, and cooking pot.
Chilchuck quickly packs his bedding away and pulls out his lock picking tools; he likes to examine his tools often to ensure that they are always in good working order for whatever locks or traps they might come across. But as Chilchuck starts to look over his tools, a strange metallic-like taste spreads across his mouth. He changes his mind about the soup; they may have eaten some strange monsters over the course of their travels, but that soup has to be the worst. It had a really weird aftertaste.
*
Suddenly, Laios is in front of him, both his hands on Chilchuck’s shoulders. Chilchuck’s lock picking tools have fallen off his lap and lie scattered on the ground. Huh? He feels like time skipped forward without him.
“Chilchuck,” Laios says, then waits, as if waiting for an answer. Chilchuck didn’t remember ever hearing a question.
“What?” The oddity of the situation alone stops Chilchuck from shrugging Laios’s hands off of his shoulders.
Laios has an uncharacteristically serious expression on his face. “I said, are you sure you’re alright? We can stay here longer if you need to rest some more.”
Indignant heat flashes through him. He knows Laios is doesn’t mean anything by it, but his words combined with the solid pressure of his hands that were still on Chilchuck’s shoulders feel incredibly condescending in the moment. Plus, now everyone is staring at him. He shrugs Laios’ hands off and hurries to shove his tools back into their pouch.
“I’m fine; just haven’t fully woken up yet. We really should get moving soon.” He hoists his travel pack up onto his back and starts toward the door of the small cabin where they’d made camp, leaving no room for argument. He especially makes sure to ignore the three sets of concerned eyes following him.
***
They travel onward, though it all passes by in a daze for Chilchuck. Fortunate for his painful and tired head, they don’t run into any traps or locked doors, so he can just follow along behind everyone else. As they walk farther, Chilchuck’s headache gets gradually worse, steadily creeping up to the same levels of pain as when Marcelle first healed him in the rubble left by the dragon. His stomach churns unpleasantly, and it’s only through shear willpower that he can keep putting one foot in front of the other.
One minute, he’s- well, not fine, but he’s upright, walking, and keeping up well with the group. Then suddenly, that same metallic flavor bursts across his mouth, much stronger than it had earlier during breakfast. His stomach swoops in time with the bad taste. He… doesn’t feel right.
His knees shaking, he reaches out a hand to steady himself against a nearby stone wall.
“Wait,” he rasps. Everyone turns to look back at him. He must look pretty rough, because Marcelle covers her mouth with one hand and gasps.
“Chilchuck!” Her voice sounded sharp, equal parts concern and aggravation. “I knew something was going on with you, but you’re far too stubborn! Why can’t you just-”
“Marcelle, wait.” Laios says, holding a hand up to silence her. Laios walks closer, the light glinting off of his armor and into Chilchuck’s eyes. “Chilchuck, are you-”
Then, several things happen too quickly for Chilchuck to fully process. His knees give way and he falls face-first into something hard. Sharp pain bursts through his forehead, and his vision whites out for a moment. Fuck, his head. He feels an arm wrap around the back of his shoulders. He blinks blearily up at Laios, who looks panicked and is saying something to him. Fear shoots through him. What’s going on? His stomach swoops. His head aches. And then-
***
**
*
Slowly, Chilchuck starts to come back to himself, feeling disoriented and sick. His head throbs. He floats in a half-aware state for an indiscernible amount of time. He feels someone touch him, his neck, his wrist, his head. Someone is talking to him. He can’t understand what they are saying, but the voice continues on in a deep, soothing cadence. He drifts.
*
He starts to feel more awake, enough to wonder, What the hell just happened to me? He’s pretty sure he fell forward when his knees gave way, but now he is lying on his right side. Did somebody move him? The stone floor of the dungeon beneath him is cold, though the blanket over top of him helps to keep the chill at bay. Something soft is rolled up beneath his head.
Senshi is leaning over him. He smiles reassuringly at him and starts- no, continues- talking to him.
“There you are, kid. You coming back to us now?”
Chilchuck groans. His mouth tastes awful. Did he vomit? He can’t remember. “’dunh c’ll m’ tha’” Shit, why does his voice sound like that?
Senshi’s eyebrows pinch together briefly, before he forces his expression to smooth again.
“That’s it, you’re doing just fine.” Senshi praises as he pats Chilchuck’s shoulder reassuringly, more gently than Chilchuck thought possible of the dwarf. “Lay there awhile and keep on resting ‘till your’re feeling better.”
As more time passes, he starts to become more aware of his surroundings. Laios and Marcelle are standing a few feet away. They both stare at him, pale and shellshocked. Marcelle has a white knuckled grip on her staff and looks uncertain as for what to do. Laios is holding Chilchuck’s pack and neckwrap in tight fists. There is a red splotch of blood on the bottom portion of Laios’ chest plate. Chilchuck’s head throbs as he looks at it. That must be what I hit as I fell, Chilchuck thinks. Laios must have tried to catch him, but ended up doing more harm than good. Chilchuck gazing dazedly in their direction seems to break Marcille out of her trance, and she rushes over to kneel next to him. She doesn’t seem to notice or care that she was only inches away from a small puddle of vomit. Her staff clatters to the ground next to her as her hands waver indecisively over Chilchuck.
“What-what was that?” Marcelle stutters, her voice tight. “I’ve never seen anything like that before.”
Like what? Everything feels so weird and surreal and wrong, like when you’re walking down stairs and miss a step. He can’t make sense of any of this. His pants feel damp and sticky. What the fuck? He thinks, mortified. Did I piss myself? He suddenly feels incredibly vulnerable, lying semi-coherent on the floor in the middle of a dungeon.
Chilchuck shifts his arms from where they’re flopped out in front of him and makes an uncoordinated effort to push himself upright, but he doesn’t get very far with Senshi’s hand on his shoulder holding him down. “Wha’ ‘appnd? Wha’s, goin’ ‘n?” He slurs. Forming words is suddenly a very hard thing for him to do.
“Just lie still.” Senshi says, “You fainted and had some sort of shaking fit, but you’re coming out of it now.”
Laios comes to stand beside where Marcelle is kneeling, clutching Chilchuck’s things like it’s the only think keeping him tethered from panicking. He looks incredibly guilty. “Could this be because he hit his head on my armor? Wait, he started falling before that happened, so maybe not.” He rubs a finger over the strap to Chilchuck’s pack as he thinks. ”It couldn’t have been related to eating those dryad fruits and buds. Maybe it’s the pollen? Though Dryad pollen only attacks the respiratory system. But they couldn’t have caused shaking like that.” Laios says.
Chilchuck feels like he missed part of a conversation. Dryads? That doesn’t sound familiar at all. Chilchuck would definitely remember if they ran into a monster like that.
Marcelle hums to herself while she thinks. “But you and Senshi didn’t have a reaction like this.” She gasps. “You don’t think this could be the mad mage’s doing, do you. Although I’ve never heard of a spell that can cause something like, like that” She gestures vaguely in Chilchuck’s general direction. She hovers one hand cautiously over his head, mindful of his newly acquired head injury. She examines the wound, still seeming at a loss. “Maybe if I use some healing magic it will help?”
Their words flow over Chilchuck too quickly for him to comprehend much, but that definitely catches his attention. The memory of the sheer agony his head was feeling the first time Marcelle healed him – it’s just healing pains, she had assured him- flashed through his pounding head.
“N-no, no, magic.” He moans, turning his head away from Marcelle’s outstretched hand. This causes the pain in his head to spike severely, and he feels even more sick and dizzy than he already did. He gags, but there is nothing left in his stomach for him to throw up. Marcelle hesitates, then rubs slow circles on his back sympathetically.
Senshi sits back on his heels and scratches his beard. “You’re still low on mana, aren’t you? Should you be casting any spells right now?”
Marcelle gives Senshi a hard look. “You’re not just saying that because you still don’t like magic, are you?”
They continue talking, but Chilchuck feels too exhausted to keep trying to follow along. He stops listening and lets their conversation wash over him. The longer he’s awake, the more exhausted he feels. He sags bonelessly under the weight of the blanket, absentmindedly wondering who it belongs to. He’s grateful for whoever covered him with it. It was helping keep back the chill of the dungeon, as well as covering his… accident.
“Mmm, shit…” He mutters, face flushing red. He rolls over onto his back, and this time Senshi lets him. Chilchuck throws one arm over his eyes to hide in the crook of his elbow, inadvertently smearing blood onto his forearm. He wished he could just sink into the ground out of embarrassment.
“Chilchuck.” Senshi gently shakes his shoulder to rouse him. Chilchuck opened his eyes. He didn’t remember closing them. Chilchuck lifts his arm slightly higher up his forehead so he can meet Senshi’s gaze.
“I know you’re tired, but I’ve got a couple questions for you.” Senshi says slowly. It’s much easier for Chilchuck to understand him at this speed. Chilchuck grunts an affirmative.
Getting the right sounds and words to come out of his mouth is still difficult, but Chilchuck manages to answer Senshi’s questions: Has anything like this happened to you before? No. What is your name? Chilchuck. What is my name? Senshi. Despite Chilchuck’s lengthy pauses to think after each question, Senshi still seems satisfied with his answers.
“Alright, you’re doing very well.” And then, “Who else is in the party with us.”
Something about the question doesn’t quite register to Chilchuck. “Huh?”
“Who is with us?” Senshi rephrases.
“Mmm, uh,” This gives Chilchuck pause. Thinking is surprisingly difficult; his mind feels like it’s wading through mud. “Me, uh, you.” Chilchuck gestures at both himself and Senshi, who nods along. “Fallin.”
Senshi blinks in surprise at that. He doesn’t say anything, like he’s waiting for Chilchuck to continue. When he doesn’t, Senshi prods. “Anyone else?”
Chilchuck thinks. “Laios, um, and Namari.”
Someone nearby inhales sharply. Chilchuck feels like he may have given the wrong answer. Senshi stiffens next to him.
“Ok, thanks Chilchuck. That’s- that’s good.” Senshi’s smile shakily as he runs a trembling hand up and down Chilchuck’s arm. “Two more questions, then you can rest.” He pauses, letting Chilchuck process his words, then asks, “Where are we?”
“Mm,” That one’s easier for Chilchuck to answer. “Dungeon.”
“That’s right.” Senshi leans a little closer. His eyes hold such intensity that makes Chilchuck feel nervous. “Why are we in the dungeon?”
“Laios, he- Laios needs.. And Marcelle, uh, monsters.” He fumbles over his words. “Uh, g-going, help.”
“Alright thank you Chilchuck.” Senshi’s voice wobbles. Chilchuck wonders if he did something to make Senshi’s eyes water like that.
Senchi slides an arm under his shoulders and another under his knees and lifts him, blanket and all. This doesn’t bother Chilchuck as much as he things it should. An urgent thought flashes in Chilchuck’s mind. He doesn’t them want to be down here in the dungeon. It’s dangerous. They’re all in danger.
Chilchuck shifts weakly in Senshi’s arms. “N-no here, we, up.” He feels emotionally raw in a way he’d had quite never felt before. Hot tears roll down his cheeks. “ D-don’t want, die.”
“It's alright lad, don’t worry. Everything’s fine.” Senshi soothes and pats his leg.
Chilchuck gets the feeling that Senshi is lying about everything being fine. He closes his eyes and no one stops him. He can feel the vibrations of Senshi’s chest as he speaks, the rhythm of his footsteps, the warmth of his body. It all helps Chilchuck to gradually calm. He falls asleep in Senshi’s arms.