Therapy Dog(?)

'I didn't know I could fall asleep while walking...' Icarth thought to himself after almost falling. His head snapped back after almost losing consciousness.

Rubbing the back of his neck, Icarth stared at his other hand which currently held Jade by the scruff.

Jade had his head tilted back looking at Icarth, with a light in his eyes which Icarth somehow knew was mockery.

"Shut it," Icarth whispered under his breath, a little irked by the rabbit.

'Why am I even getting riled up?' Icarth thought exasperated. Closing his eyes, Icarth thought about his long long weekend.

'It feels like it won't even end,' Icarth thought to himself referring to his forced co-habitation with Jade.

If you asked him, was it so exhausting living with Jade? No, not really. It was all the attention and comments it attracted that irked Icarth to no extent.

Everywhere he went, it was just 'Oh my god!' in either two tones. Both of which Icarth was tired of hearing.

'Arrrgghhh,' Icarth groaned to himself, too mentally drained to even open his mouth.

Icarth was currently on the outskirts of Aster City, just near the barrier that led into the heart of the Great Boan Forest.

Icarth stared at the barely visible barrier with hints of longing in his gaze. Slowly, Icarth recalled what his master had commanded.

'Don't return back here until you show me that you can understand each other's hearts,' Acacia had instructed Icarth as gently as possible.

'But Master, how will that help-'

'Child, there are some things in life that must be experienced, which cannot be just told to you,' Acacia continued with a wisdom that Icarth couldn't see at the moment.

'.....' Icarth had remained silent, his thoughts unknown to Acacia.

Finally, Icarth agreed, 'Alright Master, I'll try my best.' Taking Jade, Icarth left the Boan forest, vowing not to return until he figured out whatever 'understand each other's hearts'.

Icarth snapped out of his thoughts and slumped down to take a seat.

Placing Jade on the ground, Icarth started to rub his face, as he leaned against a nearby tree.

'Tired....,' Icarth thought to himself. He was feeling very sleepy these past few days. It was as if he was constantly tired and in need of some more sleep.

'I just wish I could sleep for more,' Icarth sighed into his hands.

If Icarth could, he would do so, except for just one fact that was stopping him. The nightmares.

That same recurring nightmare where he was up against that cloaked man. No matter what Icarth tried to do in the dream, it only ended in one way, with Icarth giving up by biting his tongue.

Every time Icarth fell asleep, he would dream that same nightmare at least once. Every time, Icarth would wake up feeling empty and with thoughts of despair that he couldn't do anything, and that anything that he did was worthless in the end, meaning that he was wea-

Icarth's hands pulled away from his face suddenly, stopping his downward spiral of negativity.

"Huff, huff..." Icarth breathed out heavily. 'What was that?' Icarth thought to himself, his heart pounding wildly, his eyes wide, and his skin clammy with sweat.

Just then, Icarth felt himself slipping, as he spiraled down, deeper and deeper.... as a sinister power that called for him.

Icarth breathed out slowly, trying to calm himself.

'It's not working,' Icarth thought with a hint of panic as his breathing stayed erratic with his heart rate all over the place.

*THUMP*

*THUMP*

His heart beat loudly against his throat, giving Icarth a very uncomfortable sensation accompanied by a feeling of lightheadedness.

*THUMP*

*TH-THUMP*

*Fluff*

*THUMP*

Fluff?

Icarth became confused as a soft sensation spread through his hands. Reflexively, Icarth pulled the sensation closer to his chest and titled himself to the side to lie down.

Stroking it slowly, Icarth nuzzled into Jade's fur for warmth and comfort. Unfortunately, due to the size difference, it looked like Icarth was trying to suffocate Jade by hugging him.

But noticing Icarth's distressed state, Jade allowed Icarth to embrace him.

Finally, Icarth's breathing returned to normal, as his heart slipped back into his chest.

Icarth pulled away slightly to look down at Jade in his arms.

Jade stared back at Icarth, for once, a hint of concern dotted his eyes.

"I'm fine," Icarth felt compelled to say, after looking into Jade's eyes.

Getting the confirmation, Jade sniffed and started to wiggle out of Icarth's grasp. Making sure that he was not having another panic attack, Icarth loosened his arms, allowing Jade to wriggle out.

Turning to lay on his back, Icarth started at the forest canopy. Belatedly, Icarth realized that he had activated his partial transformation sometime during the panic attack.

'Huh,' was Icarth's only thought as he tried to analyze what had happened.

'A panic attack?' Icarth thought hesitantly. He had never had a panic attack, so he couldn't be sure whether this was one or not.

'Is it because I haven't been getting enough sleep?' Icarth tried to think of a reason that he would have a panic attack.

'Probably....'

'I should see a doctor...'

'No.....but this can't go on,' Icarth contradicted himself as he knew that his practical exam was coming up soon, and while he was already stronger than the rest of his classmates by quite a margin, he still needed to maintain his strength.

'....I should go to a doctor.....'

'Maybe Ms Sohpia? Yeah, she could probably help....'

'....tired...'

'No...I can't sleep here....,'

'...just a little?' Icarth eyelids drooped down as the adrenaline finally dissipated from his system.

'..Need to....get out...here...'

Giving out a large yawn, Icarth promptly closed his eyes and fell asleep.

Jade saw this happening, his long ears twitching in....annoyance?

Yes, Jade was quite annoyed at his partner falling asleep in the middle of a forest where dangerous beasts roamed at night.

Although it was only the periphery of the Great Boan forest, one could still find dangerous nocturnal predators that would roam the edges of the forest for their prey.

Just as Jade wondered what he would do, his ears twitched as he heard a slight rustle of leaves. Just after, a slight tremor went through the ground and crawled up Jade's legs. Controlling his head, Jade didn't immediately make any large as to avoid alerting the predator that had set its sight on Icarth's sleeping body.

Slowly but surely, Jade acted like a clueless rabbit that was just hopping around aimlessly, when the predator finally made its move to pounce.

Bunching up power in its legs, the beast lunged at Jade. But just like the beast, Jade had also compressed himself ever-so-slightly to prepare his muscles to jump. Just after the beast lunged, Jade activated his gift and shot forward, away from the predator. In a flash, Jade flipped himself and landed sideways on a tree and then used his momentum to compress himself once more, then Jade shot for the predator which had landed with a thud on empty ground. Dazed, it could not move out of the way or react to Jade barreling right towards him.

*CRACK*

At the last moment, the predator managed to push itself up, making Jade land on the side of the beast. With Jade's momentum, he directly cracked the ribs of the beast.

"Grwooo!" With a yelp, the beast was thrown back violently as Jade landed relatively softly.

Just as Jade got up, fighting spirit burning, the predator immediately turned tail and ran.

Jade could only catch sight of a canine four-legged beast with a strange horn-like structure on its head as it ran away as fact possible without regard for any stealth.

Jade snorted and returned to Icarth's sleeping figure. As Icarth's chest rose and fell rhythmically, Jade's ears twitched in annoyance. Crinkling his nose, Jade surveyed the area, keeping an eye out for any other predators who wanted to make him and his stupid partner their full-course meal.

-----------------

Icarth's eyes fluttered open suddenly, his red eyes staring at the light blue sky through the canopy of the forest.

'Why am I outside?' Icarth thought to himself for a second just before the memories flooded back in.

'Damn!' Icarth's eyes widened as he sat up in alarm. How could he have fallen asleep in the middle of the Great Boan forest in the middle of nowhere?

Surveying the area around him, Icarth didn't find anything suspicious at all.

'Huh?' Icarth thought to himself confused as he found Jade asleep beside him, its dark-brown fur sticking up here and there with mud and grass stuck to its hide.

'Did the rabbit...protect me?' Icarth thought incredulously.

Observing Jade's state, Icarth nodded in confirmation. Raising his eyebrows, Icarth just stared at Jade for a bit before lying back down.

'I probably would have woken up when I felt the danger anyways...,' Icarth tried to cope with himself as he stared at the canopy once more.

Stretching his arms, Icarth resisted the urge to yawn and thought about what he wanted to do now.

'I need to get back to the campus....' Icarth thought lazily as he extended his arms once more to reach for a pebble around him.

'Today is.....' Icarth flicked the pebble hitting a tree close to Jade.

"YIP" A startled sound was heard before panicked rustling sounded out as the hidden creature ran in fright at being found out.

'Monday right.....' Icarth's half-shut eyes widened before relaxing.

'...eh, I've already missed a few classes, so what's there if I don't go to class today?' Icarth thought to himself as he continued to laze here.

------------------------------

"Arghghghgh," Emmia groaned for the 27th time that day.

'Or is it 28?' Emmia thought fleetingly just as her brain returned back to the problem that was troubling her.

'This is so boooring,' Emmia droned on in her head.

"...very correct Hana," Ms Jasmine nodded in approval at Hana's answer to her question.

"Now that concludes our portion for this quarter of the year," Ms Jasmine announced as she stacked her notes for the class on the podium, and turned to leave.

A soft wave of murmurs swept through the class as everyone started to chat with their friends about the announcement.

 ----

"Finally it's over!" Vollax whispered to himself.

 ----

'That's all for now huh....' Luna thought a little disappointed that it had ended already. 'Well, there is more after the quarter exams,' Luna tried to cheer herself up.

 ----

"Hey, hey~ when are you going to be revising all the plants and animals that Ms Jasmine taught?" Tea asked Hana cheerily.

"Whenever you want to," Hana resisted the urge to roll her eyes at her friend, having understood her intentions.

"Yaay~ You're the best! Anyways, Shui, you'll be there too right?" Tea turned to Shui, sitting right behind the two.

Tea locked eyes with Shui and found her friend's eyes unfocussed and blank.

"Shui?" Tea asked as she waved her hand in front of her friend's face.

"Huh?" Shui blinked and flinched slightly.

"You'll be there right?" Tea asked with a smile.

"Hu- sorry, for what?" Shui felt a little guilty that she wasn't listening.

"To revise Bio!" Tea responded energetically.

"Yeah sure," Shui nodded with a small smile.

"My room then! tomorrow?" Tea asked.

Before either of her friends could respond, Tea completed, "Tomorrow it is!"

Looking at Tea's enthusiasm, Shui and Hana didn't say anything in response, the former just laughed while the latter sighed in exaggerated exasperation.

 ----

"Hey Luna, want to go to the library after lunch?" Emmia asked a little hesitantly.

'Is it okay to ask? I mean I've just been dragging Luna around, now that I think about it, does she even want to come?' A slew of thoughts ran through Emmia's head as she turned to look at Luna.

"...yes," Luna said softly and nodded in agreement.

Emmia's ruby-red eyes lit up before dimming slightly, "Really? I'm not dragging you there by force am I?"

'What? I go because I like the library, plus it's fun going with you there,' Luna thought out her response to Emmia.

"No...I also like the library," Luna reassured Emmia without any significant change in expression.

"Great!" Emmia smiled brightly, going back to daydreaming. 'I'm almost done with that design! I just have to put the finishing touches and I'll be done!'

 ----

'I wonder where Icarth ended up,' Sefir thought to himself a little worried at his roommate's disappearance.

'It should be fine,' Sefir reassured himself before diving back into his notes.

--------------------------------------------

Nighttime fell quickly as people filtered back into their homes and into the warm embrace of their beds.

Seril's crimson red eyes glowed brightly against the dark as she stared down Spectrum Hospital.

'With all the clues from teacher and that director, I think it's confirmed that a fairly powerful Infected of the Doctor is here.' Seril confirmed mentally after going through the details in her head.

Seril stared at the hospital silently as she checked off all her preparations in her head. She didn't dare underestimate this Infected of the Doctor just because it wasn't the main body, after all, she would be fighting a very powerful minion of the depraved.