Submission (#7295) Approved

The rain came down heavy on him. Despite the dense foliage of the tree, Subaru was soaked within seconds as soon as he had stepped out of the front door and darted towards the nearest branch. The storm felt unreal, the power behind those winds was unmatched to anything Subaru had ever witnessed. He desperately dug his claws into the tree bark, but couldn’t prevent almost slipping. It didn’t help that he was in a hurry while trying to navigate this maze of branches.
Suddenly, a crack of lightning split the sky, illuminating the treetops around him and the fur on his neck stood up. Everything around him was chaos, the leaves of the tree mixed with the pouring rain and his vision was a blurry mess. The sound of the wind whipping through leaves was overwhelming and thunder rumbled right above Yggdrasil, sending roars across the island every other minute. With a flick of his tail, he leaped across a wide gap between branches and continued his daring dance through the storm.

What he was doing was dangerous and reckless. And yet he had no other choice-

.

“Oh no...Mary!” Subaru stepped closer to the sofa and Greywind finally seemed to notice him. “What’s wrong, I thought you guys got to him in time?”

“Not quite…”, Greywind explained quietly and winced in pain as well. Subaru furrowed his eyebrows. Something wasn’t right here.
“...When we got to him he was really exhausted and it took us a while to free him from the nets… But he had already swallowed a lot of sea water and couldn’t make it back on his own. By the time we freed him, the stepping stones were flooded by the incoming tide, so we swam back to the shore together.” Greywind had to pause and gritted his teeth and Cinder rushed to his side with a warm cloth and placed it over Greywinds leg.

“They were surprised by Nettleblades.” The healer elnin turned to Subaru; his discussion with Nico wasn’t going anywhere and Subaru could hear Mary toss and yelp in pain.
“Nettleblades? How? They shouldn’t be around anymore?”
“We assume they got washed up by the storm from the deeper sea; it looks like some of them weren’t far enough yet and landed at our shores again due to the storm and the current.”

Subaru bit his lip. This was bad; Nettleblades were some of the worst jellyfish they had around here. Thankfully they only seemed to roam the outer waters during miasma season when it wasn’t really safe out there anyway. Normally they migrated back to the open ocean. They weren’t deadly, but the pain was intense and could last for days.

“Mary got the worst of it all because we couldn’t get him out of the water quickly enough. And it doesn’t help that his mana is already low”, Greywind explained quietly, and then shook his head when Cinder offered him more medicine.

Nico desperately tried to comfort Mary, who was gritting his teeth and dug his claws into the blanket on the sofa, while tears streamed over his flushed cheeks. His hair was a mess and he recoiled at the touch of Nico; his whole body felt like it was on fire.

“Doc-!” Nico glared at the healer elnin, who flinched in response.

“I’m sorry, Nico- I already gave him all the pain meds I can! Any more and it will do more damage than good!”
Nico growled at that answer, clearly unsatisfied with this outcome. He wanted to snap back so badly, but tried to control himself since that wouldn’t help anyone. His own pain was completely drowned out by his worry about Mary.

“What about the antidote?”, Subaru asked no one in particular and Cinder sighed, while Nicos paw formed a fist.
“Sadly there is none in this village. We contacted the other cities and only Nalnalo responded. But they can’t send anyone in this storm, it would be too risky.”
“I’ll go-”, Nico hissed without hesitation but Greywind barked back at him. “No you’re not- We’ve talked about this! Mary needs you here- I’ll go instead!”
Cinder looked at him with concern. “Are you sure-?”, he asked quietly; Greywind was hurt as well and the effects of the poison took a toll on his body. “I have to-”, the white elnin growled and tried to stand up, but his legs were shaking and he hissed in defeat.

“Neither of you is going anywhere.”

Subaru had heard enough. None of them were in any condition to travel across Ealei. “If you go out into the storm like this, you’ll likely not return. I’ll get the medicine and be back as quickly as I can. Leave it to me.”
He didn’t wait for a response or feedback, as soon as he had made up his mind, he turned on his heels and ran out into the storm.

.

He was almost in the capital, making it there in record time. The strong winds had forced him to travel closer to the giant tree trunk and he had used the platforms to get around more efficiently. Finally the canopy was so dense that it shielded him from the worst of the rain and he surveyed the domain in front of him - a vast expanse of leafy corridors and hidden nooks that stretched out beneath the stormy sky. Lightning continued to flicker and the thunder was still right above the eldertree.
//The storm is not moving at all - it might be stuck above us for a while.// In the end, that didn’t make a difference though. Getting the medicine and delivering it to Mary and the others was all that mattered now.

Another deep breath, another leap into the storm.

.

When arriving in town, Subaru quickly made his way to the local healers, who were already waiting for him at the northern outskirts of the city, so he wouldn’t lose any more time.
“You really came-!”
“Are you alright?”
“Man look at this storm, it’s insane!”
They all talked over each other and frantically paced around on the big plattform.
“Thank you all for coming out here, I appreciate it. And thank you so much for the medicine. We will make sure to repay you once everyone is back on their feet and the storm has passed.” Subaru stood in front of them and a small elnin stepped forward and carefully placed a satchel around his neck with the antidote.
“Be careful on your way back”, she said softly. “We heard reports from the southern shore, it’s still getting worse. We’re so sorry that we couldn’t send anyone to you, but all the carrier elnins are stuck in Port Pthalo because we got a big shipment.”
“You’re doing everything you can. And I can do this just fine, don’t worry.” Subaru smiled gently, and the small elnin gave him a nod. Then, all of the sudden, they could hear loud crashing - and tree branches rained down around them. Everyone was instantly on edge and Subaru laid his ears back. He was running out of time-
“Alright, time to go. Everyone, please hurry home and stay safe! I’ll have Cinder contact you once I’m back so don’t worry. Go now, please!” He didn’t want anyone to get hurt on his behalf, and the healers nodded, before running off, just as another roaring thunder shook the island. Subaru glanced at the black sky above and lighting lit up the clouds by the minute, and with a low growl, he hopped over the fallen debris. He needed to find a safe passage. //It’s getting too dangerous up here…It can’t be helped.//
With a sinking feeling in his stomach, he decided to reach for the lower levels near the tree roots. Like a shadow he made his way down, and just as he had hoped, the inner bay of Ealei was protected by the spirits - the waters were calm and it put enough distance between him and the thunderstorm. Down here it was like a different world. The giant entangled roots gave him plenty of opportunities to safely get around and the chaotic winds above him seemed far away. Every once in a while a few stray branches would fall down and splash into the water, but Subaru easily managed to avoid them.

He quickly made good progress and traveled almost effortlessly the distance between the town and village. The real issue was getting back up, and after a few hours he stopped to catch his breath. By now the island was shrouded in darkness, since it was late in the evening. The lanterns lit up all over Ealei, but Subaru had to choose such obscure routes that a lot of times he still wandered in darkness, which made everything more difficult, especially as he started to climb up again. Everything was wet and slippery due to the continuous rainfalls and he had to make use of his claws a lot.

Just as he reached the higher treetops again, the storm reminded him with all its might that it was an unpredictable force of nature. The elnin was already on edge after he slipped and nearly fell. As he finally steadied his paws again, lightning suddenly hit the tree near him, followed by an enormous rolling thunder, drowning out every other noise. His ears rang and Subaru felt paralyzed for a second. The whole part of the tree shook and he could feel impending doom, when the branch he was standing on gave way; slamming him into nearby branches.
“No-”, he gasped in terror and looked around, now starting to panic. His body started to move on his own, and before he could think twice, Subaru started to run and jump, desperately trying to outrun gravity. His mind went blank and his body purely relied on his instincts. Each step brought him closer to safety and with one last leap, he clung to a branch that was finally still attached to the eldertree. Subaru had to pause for a moment, catching his breath, his chest rapidly rising and falling in time with the thunderous beat of the storm.
“That…was….too close-”, he mumbled while hoisting himself onto the branch.
But alas - to his relief - he could finally spot the lights of the village in the distance.
He was almost home again.

.

With a heavy thud, Subarus body fell against the wooden door as he closed it behind him. He was dizzy and exhausted, but before he knew it, Cinder was next to him, supporting him.
“Are you hurt?”, the smaller one quietly asked, but Subaru just shook his head gently.
“Just out of breath”, he answered. The house was quiet and only dimly lit; after all it was late at night at this point.
“How is Mary? And the others?” Subaru made his way to the living room with the help of Cinder. Greywind and Nico simultaneously raised their heads when they noticed him. All three elnin were on the floor; Nico leaned against the sofa with his back and cradled an unconscious, feverish Mary in his lap while Greywinds body and tail wrapped around them in a protective manner.

“Subaru!” Greywind wanted to get up, but Subaru quickly stopped him.

“No need. I’ve got the medicine, everything will be ok.” He carefully took off the satchel and took out a little container which included three injections. He each handed Cinder and Nico one and then took the last one in his own paws.
“Steady now~”, he said as he gave Nico the medicine. Cinder treated Greywind, while Nico was finally able to help Mary. Nico could instantly feel Marys’ body relax in his arms and he felt his throat close up. //Finally- You’ll be alright-//, he thought to himself and the immense worry he had to endure over the last few hours was lifted.
He turned to Subaru. “Thank you so much-” His voice was breaking, and Subaru smiled gently. “Anytime.”