Forest of Secrets (CoQ)

Sakamiya is Sick, and Dryads Reek

"Of course! The main character always has a set back. Anything new?" -Akira Eliza

The elves have intense senses that can pick up the finest of details.

Noroi

After a while, getting tired became an issue. We had a long ways away before we came across a stray town. It was getting dark and cold, so we decided it would be best to call it quits. I'm sure we could find someplace to settle by lunch time tomorrow. We maximized the DragBags and rummaged through it. We put everything together and crawled under the wooden tent. He kicked me out so we could change separately. There was a small stream near us that connected to a vicious river. A little ways down, there was a pond that was covered in more flowers than weeds. Stray nymphs would probably fawn over the place, and I wouldn't be surprised if they had in the past. My nose wasn't mistaken when we got rough. He really did smell of peaches. Now that we were so close I could smell it off of him. Meanwhile, while Sakamiya was dead asleep and I was dead awake, I learned one crucial fact of survival: Sakamiya is a fish out of water. He was flailing left and right. The more he did, the more he slowly started to stink. The putrid smell wafted up my nose and stung my eyes. In a way, it ended up becoming revolting. I don't know what was up with him, or why he stunk, but it was downright gross. He flailed a leg on top of my stomach, which was the final straw for me.

"Oi! Sakamiya! Cut that out, would you!?" I snapped. He sat straight up like a flying dart. I reached out to put a hand on his shoulder. After the little rough housing we had done earlier, I thought we were on regular terms. Boy, I couldn't be more wrong. he scurried back and pressed his back against the corner frame of the tent.

"Don't touch me!" His eyes were wide and teary. He looked like a cornered wild animal. But what was he afraid of? The stupid thing to do is try to calm him down. He probably wasn't thinking about using his darts on me, but his canines are sharp. He could rip the meat on my arm right off the bone if he wanted to. His fangs were swollen and his mouth was open, ready to bite me. Suddenly, his body froze and he passed out. The only conclusion I have for his behavior is that he caught a fever. I racked my brain on what to do in this situation. dryads are fragile and get sick easily, and their hormones get out of control. The best thing to do is make sure he sleeps and stays warm. I moved him back under the thick red blanket and figured we could work this out in the morning. His frail body subconsciously pressed against mine, causing his shivering to slowly stop. I refrained from shoving him away; he smelled disgusting. This guy should take a bath as soon as he wakes up. I slipped into a drowsy sleep when I felt him bolt away from me. I heard the zipper of his DragBag and confirmed that it was his since the purple one was no where to be found.

"Take a damn bath while you're at it." I called and rolled over. He never replied. I heard a thump and he began coughing and retching, before running outside and puking. I wrinkled my nose as the smell hit my nostrils, and had to blink my eyes over and over to avoid the sting from the acid.

"Couldn't you have done that a bit farther away from where I have to sleep?" I barked. I saw him shoot me a dirty look at me, his fangs big and threatening. This has to be the temper kicking in, because he would never dare to do this had he been fully aware. He flipped me off and yanked up a random colocasia leaf and wiped his mouth, then dropped it in the pile of puke. I stopped myself from cringing in disgust. He reeked. But it wasn't his fault. I covered my head with the blanket as I heard him walk outside. I watched as he trudged in the direction of the flowery pond. Even with him gone, the stench remained. Before dozing back off, I checked my pocket watch. Four forty eight. Light should be creeping in any minute. I covered my head with the blanket, hoping to block out the smell, only for it to fail. I must have drifted off to sleep, because when I woke up, there was light seeping through the thick red cover. I looked at my pocket watch. Six eighteen. Shouldn't Sakamiya be back by now? I sat up and took a look around. I could see A sliver of landscape that was still visible through my tent. I scrambled outside and looked around, panicked. What do I do? Is there anything I can do? What would Bokili do if I was missing? Okay, he would look at the place I was supposed to be. That's what he would do. I sprinted to the flowery pond.

"Sakamiyaaa!" I called out. My nose guided me to the flowery pool, where I picked up the stench of death. It hung in the air, stinging my eyes and making me want to dart out of there. Bile rose to my throat, and it stung. Through coughing and hacking away, I managed to see Sakamiya's clothes through blurry vision. The pants were muddy and the shirt was clumped up into a ball, but other than that, no dryad to be found.

"Sakamiyaaa!" I called again, looking around for my friend

"Master . . . " Someones voice called out. It sounded a lot like Sakamiya's, even though he hasn't spoken one word to me. This time, I knew he had a cut tongue because it sounded more like mashyer than master. I rushed toward the voice And found Sakamiya half way in a body of water down in a ditch.

"For Izu's sake." I cursed under my breath. He looked sick. Like, really sick. His face was flushed, his hair stuck to his face, and he was shivering and snorting in his own puke. Poor guy must be miserable. I scrambled (and slipped) over to him, my pants covered in mud up to my knees.

"What the hell happened?" But he wasn't concerned about his health. He was more concerned on covering himself in the freezing cold water.

"Come on man, lets get you back to the tent." He glared at me, defiance in his eyes.

Go ahead. Just try to touch me.

And I did. I reached out for him, attempting to swing my arms under his legs and back. He screeched and bit my hand, thrusting and clawing away from me. A scream racked my throat as white-hot pain shot through my hand.

"You little bitch." His eyes went wide as he tried scrambling back, still trying to show as little skin as possible, but I wasn't having it. My fingernails dug themselves into his body as I wrenched him from the cold water.

"NO!" He screamed and kicked. His head hit my nose, but just barely. It'll throb later. I noticed his leaves were slowly fading, and some of the green mush wiped on my face. He was really sick. He managed to claw me enough to drop him.

"Where's that indus worm..." I dug in my bag for the bottle. As soon as he's out like a light, I can actually help him. His leg bent awkwardly and he slipped on the muddy ground, then fell into the pool. I found the Indus worm, scaly and oily and slimy and white. Man, does all dead skin look like this? I held my breath and uncorked the bottle. Oil visually wafted around us, and Sakamiya finally stopped squirming around. At least he smelled decent. I lifted him up and tried not to look at his body. To my surprise, he hardly weighed anything at all. It wasn't good, but at the moment, it helped. My hands reached for the bag with the potions and found themselves clamping around the Wind shell. I left it alone because we were near the tent. I butted in between the draped fabric and put him under the thick red blanket. I fished a towel and wrapped it around the crown of Sakamiya's head. His leaves were bleeding. I forced myself to ignore the blood that was slowly drenching the towel. I tried to make him as comfy as possible before I took out the Wind shell and broke off the shell with my fist until there was nothing left but the center. Wisps of green and blue smoke arose, and every sound I made caused them to swirl and quiver. My breath alone caused the smoke to twirl and dance.

"Kozaku! I kind of need you to save my ass. The dryad who trailed around with me has his leaves bleeding. they look like they were eaten. How the hell do I get it to stop? He'll bleed out!" I dug my finger in the center of the spiral of the shell. The wisps took on a mind of their own and flew between the cracks of the tent, off to Kozaku. His reply was only ten minutes later.

"You idiot. Suck on his leaves! read the brochure. it told you about that. Just suck on his leaves until the taste of blood is out of your mouth." For Izu's sake.