He's still leaning his forehead against rough, scaly bark when she objects, barely hearing her above his screaming nerves and the blood rhythmically slamming his eardrums. Though what he is able to catch sounds an awful lot like something out of his old man’s mouth.
He's in no position to dig in his heels and pit his stubbornness against hers -- and warning her is impossible when his throat hitches and ropes of bile jet from his mouth, splashing the tree trunk. He gags helplessly on the vinegary tang of it, coughing wet until his throat burns and choking air back into his lungs, struggling to get a breath in edgewise. And once his legs go weak, the rest of him follows. Pain arcs through one knee as it cracks against a rock jutting from the ground but he barely feels it, throwing his hands forward to catch his fall. Pushing back to his feet is out of the question but his body tries, once, twice, wobbly and uncoordinated like a newborn foal before giving up and sinking into the bed of leaves she’s shuffled for him. Sunspots dance in the darkness behind his eyes.
“…no.”
It comes out as a weak moan like he’s trapped in a nightmare, his breathing fitful and shallow. He has seen this before. Seen someone stay back with him, someone try to save him, and then watched them crash through the ice, the both of them plunging in. “…s’gonna... kill us both…”
no subject
He's still leaning his forehead against rough, scaly bark when she objects, barely hearing her above his screaming nerves and the blood rhythmically slamming his eardrums. Though what he is able to catch sounds an awful lot like something out of his old man’s mouth.
He's in no position to dig in his heels and pit his stubbornness against hers -- and warning her is impossible when his throat hitches and ropes of bile jet from his mouth, splashing the tree trunk. He gags helplessly on the vinegary tang of it, coughing wet until his throat burns and choking air back into his lungs, struggling to get a breath in edgewise. And once his legs go weak, the rest of him follows. Pain arcs through one knee as it cracks against a rock jutting from the ground but he barely feels it, throwing his hands forward to catch his fall. Pushing back to his feet is out of the question but his body tries, once, twice, wobbly and uncoordinated like a newborn foal before giving up and sinking into the bed of leaves she’s shuffled for him. Sunspots dance in the darkness behind his eyes.
“…no.”
It comes out as a weak moan like he’s trapped in a nightmare, his breathing fitful and shallow. He has seen this before. Seen someone stay back with him, someone try to save him, and then watched them crash through the ice, the both of them plunging in. “…s’gonna... kill us both…”