His legs were shaking, protesting the further demands on them after the long day of training. His lungs gave their own retaliation through the searing burn in his chest and the dry, hollow cough choking out of him every few strides. Even his knees kept trying to buckle under his weight, his eyes falling closed as he walked with his bone-masked head hanging, jerking back to blink the fatigue away each time he knocked against another goddamned tree. Slow, so stumbling slow.
So close, he must be close now. Then he could rest. Just a little further.
He just had to get to her.
He hissed a sharp gasp of pain as his knee gave out again and slammed to the ground. Tremors radiated from the injury like vibrations of an earthquake, catching his breath in his throat as he waited for it to subside. It was harder to get back up this time and he struggled to push his body further, put more pressure on himself to just get there, dammit. So close, almost there. But it wasn't going to happen, was it.
He finally managed to stand again… and forced himself to accept the reality of it. He wasn't going to make it there. Not like this, not when he was stumbling around like some aimless, drunk bastard, barely holding himself up and running into trees. Damn.
Bleak and bleary eyes panned around for a place, some nook or burrow at least mostly concealed from someone finding him unconscious and vulnerable. God, if he could've just made it there.. But a rest, just a brief little respite to gain the needed energy, and then he'd continue. He just had to get to her. And, damn, if that wasn't her scent in the air teasing him and tugging him onward without the break, without a pause for much-needed rest. Like enticing a starving beast with fresh meat, he could think of nothing else.
Yes, it definitely was her. He was nearing one of the places she liked to stay. His heart sighed and relief slumped his shoulders. Too soon though, as that shoulder clacked against another tree and knocked him off course. God, it was so hard to focus like this. But he was close, so close. Close enough. And he sank to the ground wherever he landed with an inward groan, eyes already glued wonderfully shut as his mind locked onto that scent and held it, clutched it for every ounce of comfort it spread through him.
Bliss. That was what he felt as he slipped into the perfect dark of unconsciousness, only to stir at a warmth settling around him and soft, sweet touches. He quietly hummed his pleasure at that, tried to lean and press closer before helplessly falling into the black again with a sigh and faint smile.
Home.
Cheers to the end, the bittersweet
You have my dreams and all of me
