Chapter Text
For the first time in a good while, War didn’t wake up with a headache. He was so used to it that when his eyes first opened he spent a moment frowning up at the blurry ceiling wondering why he felt weird before his tired thoughts could work fast enough to put together that it was because he didn’t feel like shit. Which was also strange considering the whiskey he’d drank after dinner and how awful he’d been feeling most of yesterday afternoon.
He’d been incredibly lucky that he’d had a small amount of snacks left in his bag that he’d been able to eat while Warriors napped and recovered, otherwise War was sure he would’ve ended up passing out. Between having used his focus spirit and giving blood to his vampire friend twice, he’d gotten rather dizzy and while Warriors had been taking his last nap before they’d gotten moving, War had just laid on the ground next to him and stared up at the trees. It had the added benefit of not just helping him feel better, but also letting him make sure no skulltulas decided to come back for a hylian sized snack while they were vulnerable.
He had been feeling better after some rest and with the oranges Warriors had given him as they walked, and also after having gotten to eat a full dinner, but he didn’t expect to actually be feeling good when he woke up. War didn’t think he could even feel the near constant ache in his lower back anymore. Maybe the mattresses in this inn were magical, or maybe he’d immediately feel miserable once he sat up, he wasn’t sure.
There wasn’t any real rush to get to his feet, a quick glance at the little bit of window he hadn’t covered completely with the curtain last night told him it was still fairly early in the morning and War didn’t expect Warriors to wake up for quite a while, but War was used to getting up early. He liked being up to watch the sun start to rise, it gave him time to appreciate the quiet before people started to wake and it gave him time to properly prepare for his day and feel ready to go. Routine had been something he’d been missing since he’d been separated from his brothers, and he had a feeling (or rather a hope) that falling back into his familiar morning patterns might make him feel better.
So with a small sigh, War carefully pushed himself upright, and frowned in confusion when still no headache appeared.
“Huh… Weird.” He mumbled to himself, getting to his feet and slowly stretching to wake himself up more.
He knew better by now than to dwell on little miracles like this for too long because they’d find some insane way to disappear, so instead of continuing to stand around thinking about it he headed over to the window to look out at the small town, cracking it open a little. It’d been nice feeling the weather warm up the further south they travelled as he and Warriors had left the mountains, and even though the morning air was a bit chilly, War figured it should end up being a tolerable temperature later in the day. He stood there for a moment, leaning against the wall, just watching people start to appear and begin their days. The sound of the birds chirping slowly became accompanied by the sounds of small carts being rolled across stone as the stand owners down in the market set up and by soft chattering as the town began to wake up.
It was so much more peaceful than what he observed from his own window back in Castletown. A huge city like that had been somewhat difficult for him to adjust to when he’d moved there, it was so much busier and louder than what he’d been used to. When he’d first been drafted and stayed in the barracks with other soldiers around his age, he’d never really seen that many people before in one spot, and on rare occasions when he’d been allowed to just walk around the city it’d been so overwhelming because of the sheer amount of things going on. There were so many people, many speaking languages he’d never heard before and the majority had been speaking a language he was supposed to have known, and it’d felt so cramped. The streets were always busy and packed and people were always coming and going as if they were running late. And even now, close to thirteen years later, when he could actually speak Common and with his rooms in the castle decently far away from the noise of the city, it was still a lot.
War much preferred small towns like this. This was far more familiar to him, quiet little places where most people knew each other and helped out their neighbors, and said ‘Hi’ to familiar faces every morning.
Turning away from the window with a small sigh, he looked over to where Warriors was still sound asleep. He seemed decently comfortable, curled up on his side with an arm slung over one of his pillows, but War walked closer just to check on him and make sure he looked okay. Yesterday had been rough for him, not that losing an arm and being impaled had been easy or fun, but Warriors had reacted to both of those injuries with annoyance. With the skulltula venom he’d almost looked scared, if not incredibly overwhelmed, which was understandable considering he hadn’t known something like that could affect him.
After confirming that his friend was still breathing and that the pillow wasn’t squished against his face in a way that might prevent him from continuing to do so, War walked away to let him sleep, heading to freshen himself up for the day. His hair was still bothering him quite a bit, he had nothing to straighten it with and nothing to help make it less frizzy and messy looking, but he did what he could to make his curls look presentable. He was likely never going to be happy with them until the next time he was able to wash them and use the proper products or until he could straighten them again, so he forced himself to turn away from the mirror before he lost it and cut them all off.
Getting dressed took less time than usual, simply because he didn’t bother with his bracers, gloves, pauldron, sword, or really anything that made him look like he was actively heading off to fight something. In his experience traveling with his brothers, that only made the townspeople more anxious and rather suspicious of him, and since he could assume that he’d at least have a few hours to explore before Warriors woke up, he really didn’t need those things. His paranoia had him keeping his chainmail on as well as some of his hidden daggers because there really was no guarantee that nothing would happen, but those weren’t visible to anyone who didn’t know they were there.
War also made the decision to leave his scarf behind, folding it up nicely and leaving it on his bed with the pin resting on top, gently running his fingers over the embroidery at the end before stepping away. He’d been just as shocked with himself as Warriors had been yesterday when he’d told the other hero he was okay with him drinking from his neck, he usually hated feeling anything touch it which was why his scarf was always so firmly pinned in place and why every shirt he owned was either loose around the neck or cut to be that way. He hadn’t lied to Warriors when he’d told him he could bite him, and he’d appreciated how Warriors had seemingly double checked to make sure he really was fine with it and how the other hero had let go the second War had told him too, but he’d gotten a little overwhelmed and it would be nice to have a small break from things near his neck until he could fully calm himself down. Luckily his hair just covered the two little marks because he’d pulled his collar wide open enough that some curious person otherwise might’ve seen them and gotten confused.
Or maybe the people in this era did know about vampires and seeing those marks on his neck could anger them and make them not trust Warriors and himself. Just because War hadn’t had a real idea of what a vampire was before he’d met his friend didn’t mean everyone else was the same as him.
He’d ended up fixing his collar before leaving the room, making sure to tightly close the curtains and lock the door behind him, so that it was closer to the sides of his neck. Just in case. The feeling of the fabric brushing against his skin bothered him a bit and he wasn’t even sure if there was a real risk or if this was something Warriors would just laugh at him about later, but he’d much rather be safe than sorry. He’d never forgive himself if he did something that ended up hurting his friend.
War wasn’t quite in the mood for breakfast just yet, so he politely declined the innkeepers’ offer when they saw him come down stairs before heading outside to explore. He shivered slightly in the cold, but with the thicker tunic he’d bought a few days ago and the fact that it was still early, he knew he’d warm up if he just started moving. And the first place he found himself walking to was a small little store that sold all kinds of berries, dried fruits, and nuts for him to restock his bag with. The peanuts certainly called to him, but even though Wind wasn’t around him War didn’t buy them and instead settled on getting more cashews and dried apricots, this time a large enough serving of each to hopefully last him a long while.
When he pulled out his wallet to pay, he blinked at it in shock. He knew he didn’t have access to all of his money, since the good majority of it was back home in his era and the large chunk he’d taken out for travel was being stored with the rest of his belongings in Wild’s slate, but he hadn’t realized the small amount he’d had had gotten so low. He supposed it made sense, since they’d stayed several nights at inns and he’d paid for the bathhouse, and they’d gone to eat and drink and War had restocked his supplies, but this meant that either they soon wouldn’t be able to afford supplies and food or he was going to have to find a way to get the rest of his money.
He thanked the shop keeper as he took his snacks and tucked them in his snack pouch on his belt, and then headed to another small store nearby because he knew they needed more healing potions. Making sure they didn’t die on the road was a good use of his money, and after buying a few bottles he headed back to the inn so he could leave them with the rest of his things and fully count out how much he had left.
Warriors hadn’t moved much in the time he’d been gone and he still seemed to be doing fine, so War left him to sleep while he emptied his wallet and tried to calculate how much longer they could keep going like this. He had no idea how much Warriors had on him, but just with what he had they could afford a few more nights at an inn and a few supply restocks before he ran out. And without him knowing how much longer they’d be traveling together, such a low amount of rupees was enough to have him a little concerned since he wasn’t sure how he could go about getting more.
Though it seemed as if the gods were feeling a bit generous towards him today, because after he’d left the inn again to go back out and explore the town he didn’t get too far before a frantic and stressed out man crashed right into him, having run around a tight corner without seeing that War was there. They both landed a little roughly on the stone, and War was a bit rattled from the sudden impact but his racing heart started to calm down when the man began apologizing profusely as he helped War to his feet.
“I’m so sorry, I’m so sorry, sir,” he said, reaching to brush War off before War gently held his hands out to stop him.
“It’s alright,” he told him, giving the man a small smile. “Is something wrong?”
“My cuccos,” the poor guy wailed in distress, reaching up to grip his hair. “I woke up this morning and my fence was wide open and they were gone!”
“Do you need help looking for them?” War offered, since he really had nothing better to do and he’d feel horrible walking away knowing this man was left searching the town all by himself.
“That would be wonderful,” he sniffed, “thank you so much. There are six of them total, and I live in the small house just behind the weapons shop if you’d be so kind as to just stick them in the pen there.”
“Of course,” War nodded and reached out to shake the man’s hand when he held it out to him. “I’ll do my best.”
With a new goal for the day, he walked further into the small town, keeping his eye out for the fluffy white birds. He’d never been the biggest fan of cuccos, Linkle used to chase him around with them when they were little, but he knew if he didn’t hurt them in anyway they wouldn’t become aggressive, so when he found the first one wandering an alley with a bucket trapped on its head he gently scooped the thing up with no issue.
“Adventure’s over, little guy,” he sighed as he took the bucket off the cucco’s head.
The bird of course just stared at him, not necessarily with a look of gratitude for granting it its sight back, but it also didn’t look like it wanted to peck his eyes out so that was a win in War’s book.
It wasn’t too hard to locate the weapons shop or shuffle between the buildings to reach the pen the man had told him about, and on his way from the alley where he’d found the first cucco to the pen he’d found another just splashing around in a puddle and scooped that one up too. Carefully sticking both birds back in the pen, he made sure the door would close firmly behind him so they wouldn’t get out and make him chase them down again. He’d honestly expected this to be a little more difficult, given how distressed the man had been, but maybe the guy was just really upset over having lost his animals to the point it made it difficult for him to search properly. War could understand that to a degree, if he ever lost Rosie or Delilah he’d probably just shut down and cry.
Cucco number three was also rather close to the pen, War found the bird inspecting the flower pot outside a nearby house and quickly snatched it. This one had been a little more upset with him than the previous two, but ultimately it took almost nothing for him to pick it up and bring it home.
The fourth he found towards the entrance of town, staring out across the path towards the forest like it was considering starting a new life there and War quickly put an end to those thoughts by scooping it up as well, and he found the fifth one on the way back trapped inside an open barrel. He’d heard a strange sound as he’d passed it, and he wasn’t sure what had possessed him to go back and double check, but he was glad he did because he found a little cucco in there running into the wooden sides of the barrel.
“How’d you even get in there??” He mumbled to himself, staring down at the bird in confusion as he struggled to reach down far enough to get it out while also keeping his grip on the other cucco.
The one in the barrel wasn’t the most helpful creature, in fact every time he tried to get his hand under it to grab it in a way that would be supportive and not painful, it bolted to another wall of its self made prison, making it that much harder to grab. Eventually War just gave up, noting the location of the damned thing and deciding to come back for it once he had two free hands. He dropped off number four, grateful to see all the cuccos he’d already caught were still in there, and he headed back to the barrel with a sigh but to his absolute shock when he got there the bird was gone.
“What the fuck??” He gasped out, poking his entire head into the barrel to make sure his eyes weren’t deceiving him, but no. The cucco was gone. And he was positive it was the same barrel because he’d made sure to note it was the one against the side of the tavern. “Where did you go??”
“Excuse me?” A soft voice behind him startled him and War jumped away from the barrel, looking around with wide eyes until he saw an older woman standing there.
“Oh, I’m sorry ma’am, I was just-” He started rambling, feeling the need to explain himself. “There was a cucco in that barrel just a minute ago and I couldn’t get it at the time so I thought I’d just come back for it but now it’s gone.”
The woman laughed at him and War couldn’t quite tell if she didn’t believe him and thought he was ridiculous or if the cuccos got out so frequently that this was a common occurrence, but he felt the tips of his ears burn and he stood there awkwardly until she’d stopped laughing enough to speak.
“Oh George and his silly birds,” she sighed, and War relaxed a little. “He goes in there to talk to them sometimes and then at night he gets so tired he forgets to lock the door to keep them in! It’s very kind of you to be helping him.”
“Well, he seemed very upset and I didn’t want to make him look for them all on his own,” War told her. “And I’ve already found four of them in what, just under an hour?”
“It’s still kind of you,” she smiled. “Anyways, I’d seen you pass by a few times and well… You’re just a bit taller than I am and I was wondering if you could help me grab a few things I can’t quite reach, when you have a minute.”
“Sure!” War agreed, brushing his hands off on his tunic and trying to straighten himself out a little. He didn’t really consider himself to be tall but the woman was clearly shorter than he was and if there was something she couldn’t reach, he might as well do his best to get it. “If it’ll only take a minute, I might as well do it now.” He wasn’t sure how long it would take him to find the last two cuccos and he didn’t want this poor lady to be left needing someone’s help when it seemed like she just had a quick task for him.
“Thank you so much,” her smile widened as she gestured for him to follow her into the tavern. “My nephew usually helps me but he’s feeling a bit under the weather right now, and there’s just this big heavy pot I can’t seem to get.”
She led him towards the kitchen storage area where the big door was already propped open, and pointed up at the pot in question. It certainly was a bit high up, but War could just reach his fingers into the space between the pot and the handle if he lifted his heels off of the ground and he carefully pulled it off the shelf, making sure to have one hand ready to catch the bottom of it so the full weight of the pot didn’t come crashing down on his head. It was probably a little too heavy for him to be lifting like that, but he got it off the shelf without dropping it or letting it fall on someone, and he even carried it onto the counter for the lady so she didn’t have to lift it.
“Oh, you’re amazing,” she beamed at him. “Thank you so much.”
“It was no trouble at all,” War assured her, trying not to look as out of breath as he felt.
The woman dug around in her pocket for a moment before holding something out to him. “Here, for your troubles. I insist.”
His eyes widened when he realized she was trying to pay him five rupees just for that. “Ma’am, you don’t need to-”
“I insist,” she repeated, practically shoving the money in his hand and making it clear there was no chance for him to argue.
War felt bad for getting paid for doing absolutely nothing, but the woman was quite stubborn and he did kind of need the money, so he thanked her before leaving the tavern and resuming his hunt for the cuccos. Which ended up being a bit easier than he’d thought it might be because right as he stepped outside he almost trampled one, and he let out a startled sound.
The bird didn’t appreciate nearly getting squished, nor did it like the noise he made, so it bolted off across the street, heading into the alleyway.
“Oh no you don’t,” he grumbled, quickly shoving the rupees into his wallet as he took off after the cucco.
It’d been such a long while since he’d found himself chasing after those things, he’d forgotten just how fast the fuckers could be, though he was frequently told by the people in his life that he was the fastest runner they’d ever seen and eventually he did catch up with the bird and grab it. It wasn’t happy with him, it kept struggling to break free and squawking at him, but War kept his grip on it until he set it in the pen and slammed the door.
“Alright,” he sighed, “one more.”
In his search for the last cucco, he found himself getting pulled aside for some other small jobs around the town. One of the wheels on a small cart had popped off and the old man pulling it hadn’t had the strength to firmly attach it back on, so War bent down and helped him and the man had been insistent that he take three rupees for it. A younger man with a broken leg had woken up after the postman had come around to collect letters to be sent and had paid War five rupees to run after the guy and get the letter to him. A sweet couple newer to town had found themselves in a state of distress because they’d torn a blanket they intended to gift to a friend and the only seamstress in town was too busy to assist them, so War had spent a few hours mending it to the best of his ability and they’d forced him to take a rather large amount of money for it.
“I can’t possibly take this,” he shook his head, trying to give back the hundred rupees they’d handed him.
“You did such a beautiful job,” one of the women insisted, “far better than what we could’ve done ourselves, and if we’d taken it to a shop anywhere we would’ve paid more.”
“This is an awful lot,” War said quietly. He’d spent a long time sitting in the shade working on it, but the only other thing he had to be doing was searching for that damned cucco so he didn’t really think he deserved that much.
“Please,” the other woman pushed his hand back towards him.
He wasn’t sure how he felt about not being listened to, it made him quite anxious when he refused something and people pushed him anyway, but there was nothing he could say that was successfully changing their minds and eventually they just walked away leaving him standing there in the street. He felt bad accepting money, he knew he’d technically earned it, but with the sheer amount he made from his job that he believed was so excessive, he felt bad taking from other people. And technically he and Warriors did need money right now, but he still didn’t feel like he really deserved it. Some little voice in the back of his head always told him it was stealing to accept money from people simply for just being a good person and helping out.
“Sir?” A voice pulled him out of his thoughts and he blinked a few times before his eyes landed on a small stand to his left. When she noticed him looking at her, the lady behind the stand smiled at him. “Hi.”
“Hi,” he gave her a friendly wave as he headed over. “Is there something I can help you with?”
“Oh, no,” she laughed, “I was just wondering if there were other kinds of needlework you did besides sew? I was watching you mend that blanket, and you did such an amazing job with it.”
War felt his cheeks grow hot, he wasn’t really used to people complimenting his work and while he’d grown up being taught those skills because it’d been intended to be a profession, it was certainly more of a hobby now.
“Um… Y-yeah, I do some other stuff. Do you need me to-”
The woman cut him off again with a friendly smile, “No, no. I just wanted to give you this.” She reached across the stand to give him a small bag, and when he opened it he found some different yarns and spools of thread neatly packed together. “I know a craftsman when I see one, you may have been running around chasing cuccos all day but you looked truly relaxed while you were working on that blanket.”
He had no idea what to say, he was actually feeling a little overwhelmed. Usually if people from the eras he’d visited assumed something about him they correctly guessed he was a soldier, more often than not because of how he dressed but he’d also been told he always looked tense and ‘on guard’. He wasn’t sure how he felt about the lady’s observation that he’d seemed calm while working on something familiar to him, he couldn’t help but think about the fact that had he never been a soldier he probably would’ve stuck with needlework.
“How much do I owe you for this?” He asked, not oblivious to how his vision was slightly starting to blur.
“Nothing at all,” the lady told him, and War’s heart sank because he couldn’t take all she’d given him for free. “These are all scrap pieces left over from projects that I can’t quite sell since they’re smaller bundles than what else I offer, but there’s still plenty there to make something with. I myself have no need for them, so I was planning on just giving them away anyway and it would make me happy to see them go to someone who needs them.”
“Are you sure…?” War asked slowly, unable to tell if she was just lying to make him feel better.
“Very sure,” she nodded.
“Thank you,” he said quietly, trying not to actually start crying. It’d been a while since he’d been able to knit something, and yarn was never really a priority for him on the road when there were more important things to buy.
“Of course,” the kind woman smiled. “Have a good rest of your day, and don’t wear yourself out too much looking for those cuccos.”
He let out a small laugh as he backed away, “I won’t. You have a good day as well!”
Since his hands were now full with the bag he’d been given, he decided to stop by the inn again to drop it off and check on Warriors. He’d been periodically checking in on him all day, just to make sure he was still living and also to see if he’d woken up yet, but when he opened the door to their room he found him still asleep. The other hero had moved a bit since he’d last seen him, now sprawled out across the bed, but he was still very much unconscious. War frowned slightly, placing his bag down next to his scarf and walking over to get a better look at his friend. He knew Warriors would be sleeping for a long time, and he’d been told ‘a long time’ could apparently mean days, but he was still a bit worried because it was getting close to dinner and the other hero had shown no signs of waking up.
He wasn’t sure if he should wake him up at all, Warriors needed to heal so the sleep was good for him, but War didn’t know if it’d be a good idea to get him up so he could talk to him and make sure he was feeling okay before letting him go back to sleep if he wanted. He’d been decently sure that the risk of the venom killing him wasn’t something he needed to worry about anymore, but he couldn’t stop his thoughts from telling him he should make sure his friend was alive before leaving him again so War gently pressed his fingers to Warriors’s pulse point.
He was aware his hands could be cold sometimes, but the other hero had been so clearly gone to the world that War jumped when after he felt a few steady beats beneath his fingers, Warriors’s head rolled in his direction and he hissed at him. It wasn’t even the first time he’d been hissed at but the reaction had been so unexpected it’d startled him, and then of course once he’d yanked his hand away his friend went back to sleeping just as deeply as he had been.
Well. Definitely alive, then. Maybe War just worried too much…
Confident that Warriors would be fine for the time being, he headed back out to find the last fucking cucco. He’d really thought he would’ve found the thing by now, and he had no proof but he was convinced it was the same little shit that’d been hiding from him in that barrel. He was starting to feel a bit hungry, he had stopped around noon to get a bite to eat and he’d had some snacks throughout the day so it wasn’t that he felt like his sugar was low, but he refused to stop until he found that last bird.
He searched in all the barrels again, he went down every alley, he looked under every crate, he tried asking people if they’d seen a cucco recently and they all said no. He’d even run into the man who’d lost them, George, and asked if he’d somehow found the bird and not told War about it but George wasn’t having any luck either. War didn't consider himself to be a quitter, and he refused to stop until he found the bird, but his back was seriously starting to ache and he was getting more than a bit frustrated.
It was when he’d gotten down on his hands and knees to peer into the tiniest corner imaginable that he’d found the cucco. It stared at him smugly, he didn’t have to guess if cuccos could feel smug he knew it in his heart, and did nothing but just sit there as he twisted his shoulders and neck into the most uncomfortable angle to grab it by the foot and pull it out from between the rocks and crates it’d hid behind. He was still gentle with the bird, as pissed off as he was he’d never hurt an animal, but anyone passing by wouldn’t have assumed he was being as careful as he was because the cucco started thrashing and squawking and pecking at him like he was killing it, and War screamed in frustration and pain every time it hit his poor fingers. It took a while to get a good grasp on it and it was a fight to carry it up the street and all the way back home, but he finally did and he threw the door to the pen open for the last time before chucking in the bird and closing it.
Once it’d landed amongst its friends, the cucco turned and looked at him in what War assumed was the closest thing to a glare a cucco could manage, but at this point he didn’t give a shit. He’d spent all day looking for that fucker and now that his brain knew he’d completed his task, a wave of exhaustion washed over him.
“Oh! There you are!” George sounded quite cheery as he skipped up to where War was leaning his back against the pen door, panting a bit. “And you got all my cuccos!! Oh thank you! Thank you so much!! Here!!”
For the first time that day, War didn’t argue when the man handed him fifty rupees for his troubles. He just thanked him, assured him his evil little birds were ‘no problem to find’, and then started making his way back towards the inn with the intent to eat dinner and go to bed. Though he only made it about halfway before a teary eyed little girl stepped right into his path. She was trying very hard not to hyperventilate or start loudly sobbing, and he couldn’t help but feel weird about the fact that none of the other townspeople were questioning why she was crying or offering to help her, considering how friendly they’d been to him all day.
Forcing his exhaustion and frustration to the side so she wouldn’t pick up on it, War crouched down a little to her level. “Hey, what’s going on?”
The little girl turned to stare at him with the biggest, saddest eyes he’d ever seen and sniffled, “It’s my cat. She’s stuck in a tree and I can’t get her to come down.”
War frowned, looking around to see if there was anyone else acknowledging this crying child. He was well aware that he was new in town and didn’t want to look like he was kidnapping someone’s kid, though he hoped with all he’d done for the townspeople today they wouldn’t assume the worst of him, but he couldn’t seem to find anyone who might’ve been responsible for watching her. He knew better than to ask where her parents were, he didn’t want her to have to tell them if they were dead or something, but with no one else even paying attention to the fact that she was close to just sitting down in the middle of the street and having a breakdown, he supposed he’d have to be the one to help her.
“Can you tell me where she is and I’ll try to get her for you?” He offered, and the little girl nodded, taking his hand and leading him down the main road to the edge of town.
He hated the part of his brain that screamed at him that this could be a trap of some kind, but with the way his life tended to go he wouldn’t be surprised. He’d been having a more than lucky day, people had been incredibly kind to him and he’d been having fun helping people out, so it really was just about time for something to go horribly wrong but when the little girl stopped in front of a tree, sure enough there was a cat in it. Unfortunately for him, though, it was an incredibly tall tree and he knew enough about cats at this point to know there was no way in hell the little creature was coming down. He’d have to go grab it.
“She’s up there,” the girl pointed to where he’d already seen the cat. “She won’t get down.”
“It’s okay,” he tried not to sigh too loudly, or let the kid know that he was terrified over the idea of climbing up that high. “I’ll get her.”
It wasn’t that he didn’t know how to climb things, in fact he was actually quite good at it. He was used to climbing the roof with his sisters as a kid, he’d climbed up more than a few vine walls and trees in order to get to a higher surface, War just wasn’t a fan of the height part of climbing. It made him feel dizzy and incredibly nauseous, and he knew it was an irrational fear but there was genuinely nothing he hated more than being stuck up somewhere high.
And yet, because no one else would, he found himself slowly working his way up the tree to rescue this poor girl’s cat.
Getting up was never the hard part, and to his surprise, grabbing the cat hadn’t been either. The poor creature was so ready to come down to the ground that she didn’t fuss much when War reached for her. He’d given her plenty of time to sniff his hand and waited until she allowed him to pet her head before he picked her up, and then she remained fairly calm when War held her close to his chest so she wouldn’t fall.
Getting back down, however, with one less hand, a cat, and shaking legs, was incredibly difficult. He wished he could close his eyes so he didn’t have to see how small the town looked from all the way up where he was, but he needed to be able to see where his feet were going so he didn’t fall to his death. The little girl’s cheers were completely drowned out by the sound of blood rushing in his ears, and he was freaking out so badly he almost fell a few times. But eventually he made his way to solid ground, even if he barely remembered how the fuck he’d done it, and he kept his smile straight and steady just long enough until the girl was distracted by having her cat back in her arms before he let himself take some deep, grounding breaths.
The little girl ran off after thanking him over and over again, and he was glad he’d been able to get her her cat back but his hands didn’t stop shaking until he’d made it all the way back to the inn and sat down to eat, several hours later than he’d planned to. Dinner was wonderful, and he made sure he told the innkeepers that when he’d finished before he headed back up to his room for the evening. To absolutely no surprise, Warriors was still dead asleep, this time curled back up on his side. He didn’t move at all the entire time War spent getting himself ready for bed, or even when War accidentally ran right into the wall.
“Well, Warriors,” he sighed as he crawled into his own bed, exhausted after such a long day of doing things. “I hope you feel better when you wake up.”
Of course there was no answer, he wasn’t expecting one, so War just made himself comfortable and let himself drift off to sleep.