Mortalized

Travel (10)

     Soft blades of grass took turns tickling my face until they had successfully woken me up. My senses brought in the smells of dirt, grass, and dog. I lay on my side, my back pressed against that of a warm fluffy creature. My eyes too tired to open, my mind began to wander around my situation, trying to come up with ways I could possibly take back my Nether Fortress. It wasn't until a while later that I realized my night hadn't been filled with nightmares. The realization struck me in a way, I couldn't even think about it properly. The dream I had had wasn't exactly pleasant, but it wasn't too bad either. It seemed as if I had just done the impossible. I could never get a moment's rest without waking up in a pool of my own sweat. Had I reverted somehow? Impossible. I must have just forgotten the nightmares.

     It was the dog who rolled off the ground first. I decided to wait there and allow my body to heal a bit more. The rest seemed to be working as well. What were once searing pains had dwindled, becoming short of an uncomfortable soreness. Of course, if I moved the pain would likely spike up again. I would just have to hope it wouldn't last. I could hear the dog walking away into the forest, then back over to me, before jogging back between the bushes. Though the light pried at my eyes, I kept them shut. That comfort given to me by the fish last night still had its calming effect over me, and I was in no rush to look alive.

R-r-rwoof!

     I heard the mutt growl at me from ahead. What did he want? Another fish? I ignored the domesticated wolf, hoping I wasn't making a mistake by doing that... Wait, what if he was growling at a monster, or worse? That idea set into mind, my eyes shot open, anticipating to see the dog glaring up at something hovering behind me. Something that wouldn't allow me to sense it by any other means than sight, hearing, and all the other basic human senses I guess. So, it almost annoyed me when my eyes opened, seeing the dog's deep brown eyes landing directly on me. Underwhelming because I couldn't see any threatening shadows looming over my own. Instead, I saw the dog sit as he stared me dead in the eyes, head tilting as he did so. What was this? Was he begging me? Waiting for me to get up?

     Tired, I decided to be stubborn. I rolled over onto my other side, my back to the mutt, and listened as the animal appeared to grumble under his breath. I then closed my eyes, refusing to move even as the domesticated wolf limped over to me in an excited hurry. The dog pawed at the back of my hair again and again, as if he knew that would annoy me. Unfortunately, I was never too slow to anger, so I turned to snatched his paw after the dog made it clear he had no plans to stop.

     "No!" I spat at the mutt. He only barked back at me as I released his paw. "What on earth do you want anyway?" I asked, annoyed. The dog answered by quickly reaching over to my shirt to pull on my sleeve. Then he let go and began prancing back towards the bushes. I tilted my head. He wanted me to follow him? Why? Could he-? If he could, I better not stick around much longer. I thought I had killed him, but who knows, he might have managed to survive.. and is now on another revenge trip. Shivers brought me to my feet, and I was up as quickly as my weakened form could. "Do you sense someone?" I asked the dog. He spun around in a circle, sticking his tongue out as he looked up at me. It didn't appear that he was frightened; then again, I had no real way of telling what that looked like.

     Before I followed the dog into the thick of the forest, I first limped over to the creek to drink some more of it's fresh, cool water, as well as stick my tingling ankle right in to cool it down. The dog thought that smart, and followed my lead by lapping the water and dipping his paws in as well. Once I felt more ready for a long day of walking, I let the mutt take the lead through the shrubs, to a deeper part of the woods I wasn't even sure existed. Was I tired? Of course not!

     I was exhausted! It wasn't the kind I had felt in seemingly forever either. Often I would feel tired when I was low on energy, but this was different. Before, all I needed was to stop fighting or whatever a moment to catch my breath and mentally recharge. When I was injured enough, all I would have to do was wait, but this was different. This form of tired continuously begged me to do something, and I had no idea what! First my feet were affected by this. They began feeling sore. Quite norma, I guess, after days on end of walking; but it had only been a few hours! Next up were my legs themselves, and then even my hips. Somehow my back and shoulders even were overcome by this soreness. Worst part was, I didn't know how to fix it! At least I wasn't the only one. The domesticated wolf's steps had slowed since the beginning of our journey, his limping more prevalent. My own injured leg absolutely hated having any weight upon it, preferring to force my other leg into further suffering by making it take up the slack. At least, my back was feeling a lot better. The bandages over the large cuts were successfully keeping the wounds from opening up again.