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June gasped awake. His stomach felt like it's climbing up his throat. He took a few deep breaths, steadying himself. He squinted at the mass of trees blocking the sky. Circular, brown houses littered his surroundings like it did in Depandes. The only difference was that Diven rose up in an incline and that the houses dotted the hill itself.
Then, his gaze landed on a tree with blue leaves and white trunk. He sat up with a start, ignoring the black spots that danced in his eyes because of it. Trees. Food. Finally!
He pushed himself up only to fail the first time. His limbs felt like they were about to fall off. Well, for the record, one of them literally was. He gritted his teeth as he tried again, bracing a tree trunk to support his shaking knees.
Being upright suddenly sent a wave of nausea crashing into his senses. He doubled over, clutching the tree like a lover. He forced himself to look around, to find any semblance of food. Anything to get his body functioning again and keep his mind sharp.
He inched forward, one trunk at a time. He barely had enough energy to cast a shield around Xanthy and the satchel and he's supposed to climb trees to eat? What kind of irony was fate playing with him right now? He would kill just to have food in his mouth.
June stopped in his tracks before a languid laugh shook his shoulders. Oh, gods. He's losing it. How fast did he revert back to his past ideologies the moment he got starved? Pathetic. He shook his head, the action bringing stabbing pain to his temples. Keep moving.
After minutes of painstaking walking and huffing, he found himself under a tree filled with luscious blue fruits bunched together. They looked like they're shining or maybe that's just June's eyes. He didn't know or care anymore. He had to get up there. But...how?
If he used magic, the ones pursuing him would sniff him out as easily as getting a whiff of freshly-baked bread in the local bakery. Oh, he would kill for some bread right now.
No...he should be happy with the fruits. He was at least two or three feet lower than it...or more. Whatever. It's so high up! Were they even edible? What if he spent his precious magic for that and it turned out to be poisonous? Would fate be that cruel?
No matter. If he died out here, there's no one who would get Xanthy to those who could fix her. He just needed to eat something, anything. He stretched his hand up. Okay. He's going to risk it. It's for survival. Survival.
He mustered the last of his magic and sent a beam of energy towards the nearest bunch of fruit. The branch gave a happy crunch before breaking off from the tree with the fresh fruits in tow. June laid out his hands in front of him in anticipation of where it would land.
Then, he caught a movement of white fabric at the corner of his eye. He whirled just in time to dodge a dagger aimed at his eye. The blade whizzed past his cheek, leaving a hair-thin slice. The bunch of fruit landed on the ground with a loud splat. June's stomach growled in sympathy for the perished produce. He slowly turned from the fruits to his attacker.
