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Ikaruga woke up feeling violently chilled. He shivered in between the sheets and fur comforter and curled in on himself.
Winter village was known to get storms now and again. Or maybe the fire went out during the night.
No problem. He rolled out of bed to rekindle the fire place before breakfast.
The fire had burned to dark orange embers. Usually this didn't bother him so.
His head felt like it was full of wooly fluff. Now to get outside for some firewood.
The fabric of his mystic uniform scratched and scraped against his skin.
How could he be this exhausted? He had work to do!
Somehow, he dragged himself from the woodpile outside back to the fireplace.
But it wasn't like he much else to wear. Unless he felt like going outside in his festival yukata.
He just needed to throw a log or two on the fireplace. Then he could start the day.
He needed to head to the snowfields today to scout for monsters. The earth dancer had cleared much of the blight , but large packs of wolves remained.
After that, he needed to write a report for Bureau of Mystics on his findings and craft another couple of talismans. Not to mention daily training.
Nothing seemed remotely appetizing so he settled on soup broth and an energy charger.
It was sufficient for him to feel like he could face the day
_
A group children ran past the small thatched cabin that the village's local god had given him to stay.
"Quiet!" he snarled. " Didn't any of your parents teach you manners! You're waking up the whole village."
A small girl, who had running by him with a snowball in her hand, turned toward him with a look of horror on her round face.
She took one shocked look at him before running to join her friends.
_
Every step felt like work. One foot in front of the other.
Perhaps he had been harsh on those children. The look of shock on the little girl's face made him feel guilty.
Despite the thick furs he was wearing, he was shivering again.
For Gods sake he had been up north before!
His master had even taken him beyond the villages, past the tree line for training when he was 11. Even back then he hadn't gotten this cold.
He just had to keep moving. If he did he would warm up eventually. What good would he be if couldn't do his damn job?
--
His heart was racing. He counted a pack of 5 wolves in the distance around one of the lakes.
Wolves made him uneasy. The creature that killed his master had been some kind of wolf.
--
His knees were absolutely killing him. They throbbed with every step. And his elbows. It hurt to walk.
Maybe if he was this incompetent he deserved to hurt.
Maybe he could break for a few minutes, just enough to get his bearings.
Ikaruga plopped himself down in a well of snow on top of a small hill.
Was he going west? He was going west, right?
To his right was one of Watarese's favorite fishing spots. So he should be going west.
Ikaruga leaned back against the snow. It felt good to not be moving.
The bright snowy landscape faded in and out of focus.
The scenery around winter village was incredibly beautiful. It made a nice change from the crowded capital city, where someone was always watching over his shoulder.
...
---
"Hey.Hey! You doin' ok?"
Ikaruga jumped. Someone was shaking his shoulder.
Watarase knelt beside him, fishing rod slung over one shoulder.
"Did you get hurt?" Watarase paused, and then felt his forehead.
"By the winter God you're burning up!"
Ikaruga grumbled. "I'm just having a rest."
"Forget that, we're going back to the village!"
Ikaruga grumbled in protest but the fisherman scooped him up bridal style. Watarase was certainly stronger than he looked.
Ikaruga was sure he was going to die of embarrassment if any of the winter village residents saw him being carried like this.Especially if Kai somehow saw him.
...
Something cold was placed on Ikaruga's forehead.
"uurgk." He groaned and opened his eyes. The sun was low in the sky, it must be around late afternoon.
The earth dancer kayuga was standing over him.
"If we can't find a doctor ... we could send for Hisui if we have to."
It sounded like Fubuki's voice.
He really didn't want to face Hisui right now.
"where am I?" his voice came out a hoarse whisper. He tried to sit up, but couldn't muster the strength.
He felt a hand behind his head.
"easy." It was Fubuki.
"Watarase found you asleep in the snow. He thought you had hypothermia, before he felt your forehead." Fubuki gently lowered him onto the mattress. "you were fast asleep when he brought you back.
The ceiling Ikaruga was staring up at wasnt his own.
He must be in the dragon shrine.
The sheets felt different too, and it smelled different...
He was in his underwear. But he was too exhausted to care who undressed him.
All he wanted to do was sleep, but he didn't want the others to leave.
Kaguya re entered the room with a teapot.
"we need to make sure he doesn't get dehydrated."
"Can you drink something? Just don't get up too fast." Fubuki asked him.
Ikaruga was able to lean up against the pillows and take a small sip of the tea. It was ginger.
Fubuki mentioned something about soup.
"Don't leave, please, dont" Ikaruga muttered.
Kaguya sat down next to the futon.
"Don't worry he'll be right back." She smiled.
---
Ikaruga was jolted awake by Fubuki offering him chicken soup.
It was dark out by now, and a candle had been lit somewhere nearby.
He forced himself to eat a few bites, even though his stomach felt like lead.
"He's awake again." Fubuki said quietly.
Kaguya came padding over, a book in hand.
He tried to stand but his vision greyed over.
His legs gave out and he sunk back onto the futon.
Kaguya bent over him"Are you .. feeling any better? Do you need another compress?"
Ikaruga blinked slowly and groaned.
A cool hand covered his forehead. "He's still so hot." Fubuki said.
---
The night was spent fitfully fading in and out of consciousness.
Images of his dreams swam before his eyes. He was in the snow, with wolves on all sides of him.
Then he was a child, practicing his forms in an endless field of gold, Sun dipping past the skyline of the capital.
His master's voice called out for him, calling him for dinner.
"You worked hard today." said the old man, ruffling his hair.
Ikaruga beamed.
But then the landscape distorted. Red white and yellow shapes moved around him and blurred together.
His thoughts didn't complete, didn't make sense.
He opened his eyes to the sight of the dragon shrine, before rolling over and falling back into a fitful sleep once again.
---
Sharp claws tore at his skin.
He wanted to scream but he was frozen.
His master stood in front of him.
He tried to run towards his master , away from the wolves but he couldnt
"no. No!"
The thunderbeast lunched and blood spurted in every direction.
Ikaruga choked on the stench of copper.
The air around him cracked. He could smell electrified flesh.
"Ikaruga? Ikaruga!"
--
Fubuki and Kaguya both stood over him, shadows under their eyes, mouths gaping open.
Hands grasped his shoulders. He found himself face to face with Fubuki's worried face.
His fevered brain fixated on Fubuki's pointed canines. They looked like the teeth of the wolf from his dream.
Ikaruga shivered violently. His body wanted to scream but it came out more as a whimper
"Hey ... take a deep breath."
Ikaruga breathed in deeply, tightly clutching Fubukis sleeve.
"see, there you go." Fubuki said softly.
"why" Ikaruga whispered. "why are you so nice to me?"
Fubuki gently pried his sleeve out of Ikaruga's grip and sat next to him.
"Because you're part of my village. I feel responsible for you."
"But I'm - I attacked your earth dancer. And, and I - "
His eyes were watering.
Fubuki quietly shushed him. "
He couldn't remember the last time anyone had taken care of him like this. Not since he was young. He hated it. A mystic in his position could not afford to get sick let alone rely on the villagers like this.
But at the same time he really, really didn't want them to leave his side.
When he was a kid he got sick the normal number of times a kid got sick.
He had a spot by the fireplace when he had chills, a bucket to be sick in, even a small metal thermometer that would go under his tongue.
When he got the pox, as every child in Azuma does, his master brought him an entire tub of ice cream from noradean parlor.
He was fortunate that he rarely got sick as a mystic.
The few times he did he retreated to the small room he had at the mystic's HQ. He would lay on the simple bed he had, underneath his comforter, watching the sun journey across the sky.
He kept his fellow mystics at arms length so he never had anyone knocking at his door, let alone bringing him soup or keeping vigil over his bedside.
----
Ikaruga thought he heard Hisui's voice from edge of his half asleep mind.
No ... they didn't have to.
Ikaruga sat up and rubbed his eyes, with far less effort than yesterday.
Nonetheless he still felt like he had been full body slammed by a buffamoo.
"- important that you kept him hydrated. I have a remedy will lower the fever, but you should let it run its course if its under a certain temperature. And I can use my water talisman on him too if circumstances require..."
He laid back down and pulled the blankets over his head. Childish, he knew. but he didn't want Hisui seeing him like this.
He heard footsteps come toward him, and felt a cool hand slip under the blankets and feel his forehead. There was a ruffling of robes and then something metal was slipped into his mouth.
"- let me know if he seems confused, or develops a rash."
He lay still until he heard the door close behind him.
Ikaruga drifted off briefly before Kaguya and Fubuki woke him for another bowl of soup.
"Fubuki made this one." Kaguya smiled.
Fubuki placed a bowl in his lap. "Its dashi broth with a little ginger."
"thank you." He replied. "really. thank you."
His appetite had improved since last night.
"I'll be on my way once I finish this." Ikaruga lifted the bowl and drank deeply.
Fubuki looked taken aback.
"I dont think so." Kaguya said sternly.
"I appreciate your kindness greatly , but my duties as a mystic-"
"You are going to kill yourself carrying on like this! You could very well be dead if Watarase hadn't found you!!." Fubuki shouted.
"Do you know how many of my villagers were swallowed by the snow over the years?!I've lost count!And theres so many I couldn't help until it was far too late! Now would you please take care of yourself for Gods sake so I don't find your frozen body in a snowdrift or at the bottom of the lake! "
Ikaruga stared at him taken aback.
"Fubuki." Ikaruga said.
Fubuki paused, and then took a breath. "I'm sorry I've just ... I didn't mean to shout- I've lost villagers over the years and I can't help but feel like I'm responsible.
"Ok. I will do as you say."
Over the next few days, Fubuki and Kaguya took shifts watching over him.
Fubuki would stay by his cot while Kaguya directed the villagers and helped seed and harvest.
Kaguya stayed with him while Fubuki attended to his duties in the village.
Once Ikaruga felt well enough to walk the two escorted him to his house in winter village.
"No more energy drinks until you're better, you hear?"
"I can't - "
"No."
Fubuki stared icily at him.
Ikaruga recovered after a week, later having found out he was the first of a few to get sick.
Several of Kaguya's farm hands got sick, as well as the dwarven blacksmith.
The day he felt well enough to go scouting again, he recognized some of the village children.
He politely nodded toward them, before venturing toward the edge of the village.
The villagers weren't so bad.