New moon

Third quarter; Half moon

The fight didn't last long. It was just a few earthblood elves who were way out of their territory. Their ammo had been taken and their lives spared. The three of them leaned against a rock, tied up and unconscious.

The assassins remained on edge after that, several of them doing shifts as a lookout.

Ethari sat next to Runaan, who was also unconscious. His arm was wrapped tightly in a bandage with a cold cloth pressed to his forehead, thanks to Sol who had brought a waterskin with him.

"The bleeding has stopped..." Ethari mumbled, and pressed his knuckles to Runaan's flushed cheek, "He's still burning up though."

Lunae nodded, Sol sitting right next to her.

"Runaan's strong. He'll be okay..." she reassured, reaching out and placing a hand on Ethari's shoulder.

Though, images of what happened to that tree flashed in the moonshadow elf's mind. He forced himself not to panic. Not to think about how that might happen to his best friend.

Retrix scoffed, leaning against a tree, "Shouldn't have run off... stupid amateur."

Ethari felt anger boil inside of himself, and desperately wanted to protest and force the older (and more skilled) assassin to take back what he said. Runaan wasn't stupid!

But... as Ethari looked back down at the poor thing, the anger disappeared and was replaced with guilt.

If Runaan hadn't gone to look for him, he would never have gotten hurt. If Ethari never left in the first place... none of this would have happened.

"It's all my fault." He mumbled, vision suddenly blurry with tears.

Before Lunae could say that she was sure it wasn't his fault, a hand touched Ethari's and made his breathing hitch. The air caught in his throat as turquoise eyes met his own gaze.

"Ru!" Ethari whispered shakily, relieved, and smiling as he rubbed his eyes with his dirtied sleeve.

Runaan cracked a weak smile and squeezed the other's hand. His Adam's apple bobbed in his throat as he swallowed, mouth dry.

"Here, sit up. Up." Ethari said softly, helping Runaan move and cradling him with one arm. The other holding the mouth of the waterskin to his lips.

Runaan drank, and after some water he would admit, he felt a little better. It wasn't so hard to stay awake now and his throat didn't feel all scratchy.

The elf turned his head to the side, a drop of watcher dribbling down his chin as he tried to catch his breath.

"There we go... do you want to lay back down or stay sitting up?" Ethari practically whispered, glancing away only to hand the waterskin back to Sol.

"Down." Runaan mumbled, the ache in his body beginning to become more noticeable. Mainly in his right arm.

As requested, Ethari let him lay back down. Runaan groaned and let his head fall to the side, away from Lunae and Sol.

"Get some rest..." Sol said and pat his friend's shoulder before standing up and walking towards the fire where some food was cooking. Lunae followed and left Runaan and Ethari alone.

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After an hour or so, Runaan was awake and restless. His fever had finally broke, and his stomach growled.

Ethari still sat next to him, knees pulled up to his chest and staring into the flames ahead of him. They danced under his gaze. It was comforting, like he was downstairs pestering his grandfather with questions as the older elf worked with the forge. The warmth was almost the same.