Nature Boy (COMPLETED)

Night

Inuwa makes his way into the alley that lead home, finding the hatch where it's always been. He drop into the chamber and calls out to his father.

"Father, I'm back."

Inuwa sits his bag down and begins removing his gear.

The door to his father's quarters creaks open, prompting Inuwa's gaze to snap in that direction. Nagona staggers slightly out of his room and Inuwa stands abruptly, concerned at the sight of his father's condition.

"Relax." Nagona calms. "Just a little dizzy."

"You don't look well." Inuwa comments.

"Sickness always looks bad before it gets better." Nagona sits down on one of the Sofas in the chamber. "What about you? You're back late. I was getting worried. What happened?"

"Nothing serious." Inuwa says, attempting to take the appeal from the topic.

"You've used a lot of your arrows and some of your flasks are missing." Nagona points out.

Inuwa sighs. He'd hoped to avoid talking about his day entirely. "I had a run in with...with a lycan."

"A LYCAN!!" Nagona shouts before erupting into a coughing fit.

"Father!" Inuwa stands to go to his side but the older man gestures for him to stay.

"...I'll make you some medicine." Inuwa goes to his room and starts isolating substances from some of the spare plants he had lying around.

"How did you run into a lycan?" Nagona questions from the chamber.

Inuwa decides that a half truth was warranted. "While I was foraging in the thicket, a path to the glades opened up and I took it."

"Why on earth would you do that?" Nagona inquires. "You still can't muster the strength to take a life. The glades are too dangerous for someone unwilling to kill when they need to."

Inuwa sighs, mixing some chemicals together. "I was fine. A lycan showed up and I subdued it long enough to escape."

Nagona stays quiet for a moment. "Lycan fairies usually take a team of people to kill. You managed to fend one off on your own?"

"With the help of my flasks..." Inuwa adds.

Nagona chuckles. "And here I thought your parlor tricks no more useful than a bow and arrows. But if you managed to handle a lycan on your own, perhaps your alchemy is everything you say it is."

Inuwa mixes all of his substances together into a syrup and brings it to his father to drink. "This will make you feel better."

Nagona quickly drinks the medicine but still makes a disgusted face at it's unpleasant flavor. "How much did you manage to gather?"

"Enough to cover for yesterday...but..." Inuwa wonders how he'll put the next part.

"But what?" Nagona questions.

"...I'm going back in the morning."

Nagona furrows his brow, sure not to have an outburst that would lead into another coughing fit. "For what reason?"

Inuwa quickly thinks of a reasonable excuse. "I don't know how long you'll be sick for. It's better to get ahead of your absent contributions rather than playing catch up."

Nagona couldn't really argue with reasoning that sound but there was still call for concern. "You're still new to the inner parts of the Guillon forest. Are you sure you can handle it?"

"I only equipped myself for the thicket this time. When I go back, I'll have a better arsenal to protect myself with."

"Hmm." Nagona contemplates. "Just come back to me safely."