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Description
UHHH so this one takes place before the other rites, and Makos a young adult here!

--

His dad looked so small now. Mako wondered if that's how he saw him when he got sick as a pup. He wondered if every father had to feel their chest being pulled and tightened all at once, and if there was anything worse than seeing a loved one in so much pain.

Linus was drawing in small, shallow breathes. In each inhale his chest shook like it was a tremendous effort to breathe. His body was slack like a carcass, and his soft plush fur was greasy and flat. His sire had been reduced to his bare instincts as his body was focused on survival.

"Dad..." Mako croaked, "Dad please wake up..."

Tears clung to his eyelashes, he drove his snout into the great grey Dires side in an empty to jab him awake. Like his touch would coax his body from sickness and he'd spring up ready to reprimand Mako for calling him anything but sir. Mucus slithered from his eyes, nose, and mouth. A sickly green colour that Mako was certain didn't come from nature. He didn't know what to do, his dad was dying and he didn't know what he could do to stop it. Numbly, he leant over to his fathers face in an effort to lick away his tears-

"Stop." A voice boomed behind him, and as he pulled his head back he was greeted with the forest.

Aga circled around him, vegetation sprouting to life before withering behind her. The scent of summer washed over him and pushed a shallow cough from his fathers throat.

"You were mere moments away from joining your father on the ground, boy." She chuffed, raising her head and blotting out the sun, "What were you thinking?"

"I-!" Mako choked, "I was thinking my dad is dying! What do you want me to do!?"

"You're a Tokota, aren't you?" She narrowed her eyes, "I've provided all the medicine you need in my forests, it's your job to know these herbs."
"You want me to find flowers?"

Her great shadow was cast over Mako and Linus. Even the burning sun above them was helpless against the faux night she bought with her, leaving Mako locked firmly in her gaze.

"I want you to survive."

Aga would watch as Mako sought out the herbs. He dug by the base of the trees with frenzied swipes of his paws, breaking apart roots and ruining the medicine Aga was providing. He learn't how he had to slow down, had to curve the soil away and grasp the roots in his mouth. It was odd for him, to chew up the roots into a paste and expect his father to eat it.

"Your mother did the same for you once." She'd remind him.

The stubborn Tokota was still rigid with fear, but each time his father breathed a little deeper or shifted he felt weight melt off of his shoulders. And as he became more and more dedicated to his task, he'd find that Aga would appear less. Her face was becoming more abstract, a breathe in the reflection of leaves or a marking left on the bark of a tree. Her shadow was gone by the time the sun had sank.

Linus was breathing well by sun down. Mako collapsed on the green grass under him, and fireflies rose from under him.

Description
UHHH so this one takes place before the other rites, and Makos a young adult here!

--

His dad looked so small now. Mako wondered if that's how he saw him when he got sick as a pup. He wondered if every father had to feel their chest being pulled and tightened all at once, and if there was anything worse than seeing a loved one in so much pain.

Linus was drawing in small, shallow breathes. In each inhale his chest shook like it was a tremendous effort to breathe. His body was slack like a carcass, and his soft plush fur was greasy and flat. His sire had been reduced to his bare instincts as his body was focused on survival.

"Dad..." Mako croaked, "Dad please wake up..."

Tears clung to his eyelashes, he drove his snout into the great grey Dires side in an empty to jab him awake. Like his touch would coax his body from sickness and he'd spring up ready to reprimand Mako for calling him anything but sir. Mucus slithered from his eyes, nose, and mouth. A sickly green colour that Mako was certain didn't come from nature. He didn't know what to do, his dad was dying and he didn't know what he could do to stop it. Numbly, he leant over to his fathers face in an effort to lick away his tears-

"Stop." A voice boomed behind him, and as he pulled his head back he was greeted with the forest.

Aga circled around him, vegetation sprouting to life before withering behind her. The scent of summer washed over him and pushed a shallow cough from his fathers throat.

"You were mere moments away from joining your father on the ground, boy." She chuffed, raising her head and blotting out the sun, "What were you thinking?"

"I-!" Mako choked, "I was thinking my dad is dying! What do you want me to do!?"

"You're a Tokota, aren't you?" She narrowed her eyes, "I've provided all the medicine you need in my forests, it's your job to know these herbs."
"You want me to find flowers?"

Her great shadow was cast over Mako and Linus. Even the burning sun above them was helpless against the faux night she bought with her, leaving Mako locked firmly in her gaze.

"I want you to survive."

Aga would watch as Mako sought out the herbs. He dug by the base of the trees with frenzied swipes of his paws, breaking apart roots and ruining the medicine Aga was providing. He learn't how he had to slow down, had to curve the soil away and grasp the roots in his mouth. It was odd for him, to chew up the roots into a paste and expect his father to eat it.

"Your mother did the same for you once." She'd remind him.

The stubborn Tokota was still rigid with fear, but each time his father breathed a little deeper or shifted he felt weight melt off of his shoulders. And as he became more and more dedicated to his task, he'd find that Aga would appear less. Her face was becoming more abstract, a breathe in the reflection of leaves or a marking left on the bark of a tree. Her shadow was gone by the time the sun had sank.

Linus was breathing well by sun down. Mako collapsed on the green grass under him, and fireflies rose from under him.