Chapter Text
Your throat hurts. It hurts and feels dry and hot and it burns. You thought that it would go away, get better, when you drank some nice cold water from a stream. But it didn't. It still hurts. It's all achey and burning and you hate it!! You're thirsty ALL THE TIME but NOTHING CRABBING HELPS!!!!
The more it burns, the harder it gets to think, to focus. Or uh. Hard to focus on the right things. You're noticing a lot more stuff now. A rustle in the bushes, a squirrel, a deer, a bird. You can hear them so clearly, too! And- smell them?? It's so weird…
You dunno how long you've been running for. All you know is that Nille told you to run, so you RAN. Run from the danger. Run from the curse. Run from anything that might hurt you. Stay safe! But now it’s hard to think about anything but the burning. Your skin your throat your legs, they're all burning. You can't even cry anymore! You're not sure how far away the curse is, but you won't look back to check. You can't. You just have to keep going. Keep running. Keep running until you're safe.
You don't know if you'll ever feel safe again…
Not when Nille is-
Your ears perk up. You hear something. Something new. Something thumping. Something you need. Why do you need it? Why do you know you need it? (ba-bump ba-bump ba-bump) It's a good sound. A sound that means you'll stop hurting soon. Your head spins, and you can't tell exactly where it's coming from, but one of them is… coming closer? Coming closer real fast. The other three are slower. When you finally spot the source of the fast thumping, a person in a darkless cloak and hat, your body seems to move on its own. You run to them and when the figure reaches out, you just. collapse into the cloaked one's arms.
They're quick to cover you in their cloak, holding you close. The shade is such a relief. You didn't realize how much you were hurting. Without that pain, you feel yourself slipping. Maybe… maybe it'll be okay. Maybe you're safe. At least for now. Your consciousness drifts as your eyes slip shut. You can hear this person's heart thumping more than you can hear their voice. You're so crabbing tired… You're just about to slip away when you feel them shift, pulling their sleeve up, and then something brushes against your teeth. The sharp ones. The ones you didn't have before. The ones that have felt so achey for so long. And without realizing it, you bite down. Hard. Hard enough to draw……..
Blood.
Blood. That's what you needed. What you craved. A weak smile spreads across your face as warmth begins flowing into your body. You hadn't even realized how cold you've been. It's so good. So nice. Like fireworks going off in your body. Like the feeling when Nille tells you you made good food. Like when you score really well in school. It's. It's nice. You feel your savior's free hand start running through your matted nest of hair, humming a tune you don't recognize. It's really nice. It feels… safe.
By the time you've had enough, your brain feels like sludge. You release the savior's arm, and as if by instinct, licking the wound, closing it up again. Your arms wrap around their waist and you feel yourself finally, finally relax, and the last thing you hear before you slip off into sleep is your savior saying something in a language you shouldn't know.
“Rest well, little bat…”