Chapter Text
Cyno's earliest memory was of pain.
He would not remember a time before, a time without pain nor a time when he lived happily with his parents, but he would remember when he lost his parents. More accurately, he would remember when he found out they were gone.
That's when the pain began.
Granny, an elder of the tribe, was the one to break the news to him. Later, he would be unable to recall her words, but the image would remain vivid in his mind, how Granny and the world around her began to blur, tears welling up until they ran down his cheeks as he began to sob.
He was consumed with thoughts of how unfair it all was, how it wasn't right. The injustice of it all overwhelmed him, and that's when he began to feel a buzzing beneath his skin. It started as a small, concentrated mass, sitting heavy in his chest, but it only spread outwards, filling up his throat to the point of choking and traveling down his limbs. His muscles tensed up. His fists and jaw clenched, locking into place, and the taste of iron filled his mouth.
He couldn't see. He couldn't move. He couldn't breathe.
He was only vaguely aware of the sounds of Granny shouting, of shapes moving about. Strong hands reached out to move him, but as soon as they grabbed hold of him, they felt like hot irons against his skin, and his sobs turned to screams that echoed behind the locked cell of his grinding teeth.
He was laid on the ground, and his body spasmed, smacking his head on the hard ground below. For a moment, a new pain lanced its way through his head, from the point of contact to where it settled behind his eyes. His head felt like it was splitting open, but the new pain was followed soon after by the relief of darkness as he blessedly slipped into unconsciousness.
...
When Cyno came to, he became aware of two things. First, he remembered that his parents were gone, and then, he realized that he was still in pain. It wasn't as intense as before, more like a constant ache. Whatever inside him that had been awoken by the news of his parents' passing was no longer trying to burst forth, but it still remained unsettled beneath his skin.
Occasionally, the emotional pain would become too much, and he would start to cry again. In those moments, the physical pain seemed to worsen, his body tensing up once again. He would spend those episodes trapped in his body until he either slowly regained some semblance of control over it or passed out.
It soon became obvious to Granny and the others that the strain had taken a toll on Cyno's body and mind. His memories from before the incident were fuzzy. He had trouble remembering the names and faces of people he was told he knew.
He remained bedridden because the adults were afraid of what an episode would do to a child as young as him if it overtook him while he was up and about.
"We can't have you hitting your head, deary," Granny said, when he tried to get up.
It became a new law of the tribe: Cyno is not allowed out of bed unaccompanied. Granny had him recite it and the other laws of the tribe back to her so that he would avoid getting into trouble. He felt awful that a new law had to be put in place because of him, so he took extra care to remember all of his tribe's laws to make up for it.
When Cyno had to leave his bedroll, the others made sure to limit how much he moved while he was up. When the tribe packed up to continue traveling, he got up just long enough to be moved to a makeshift sled where he lay as it was pulled along by a Sumpter beast. He would stay there the whole journey until the tribe found a new place to set up their settlement, and then he was promptly moved back to his bedroll as the camp was assembled around him.
There was little anyone could do to help ease Cyno's pain. The usual remedies proved ineffective. For a while, Granny would sit by his bedroll at night and pray. He couldn't make out all of her mumbled words, but he heard bits and pieces.
"King Deshret, please have mercy."
"Relieve his pain."
"Ease his slumber."
Those prayers remained unanswered.
Granny's prayer sessions became shorter and less often. Soon she stopped praying altogether. She spent her time by his bed gazing at him like he was a particularly puzzling problem to be solved. Cyno was ashamed to be the recipient of such a gaze, but he knew better than to say anything.
It wasn't long after Granny gave up on praying when she admitted to Cyno that whatever plagued him was not a temporary malady but a strange, new sickness that their small, nomadic tribe was unequipped to treat so far out in the desert. They would have to seek help for him elsewhere, but she assured him that she and the others of the tribe were making plans to get him the help he needed.
That plan was set into action once the tribe arrived at an oasis. While most of the tribe set up camp, Granny and two of their strongest men left with Cyno.
"There are settlements near the edge of the Great Red Sands that have more healers than our tribe, deary," Granny said when he asked her where they were going.
The sand was soft enough that Cyno tried to insist on walking as much as he could since his sled and the Sumpter beast were left behind, but for the most part, the two men took turns carrying his small form across their backs.
...
They traveled like that across the desert for three days before they arrived at a village that sat in the middle of a canyon. It was surrounded on all sides by striped, rock walls that hung over the buildings and cast long shadows. the village was spread out along different cliffs, either on the sides of the canyon or on the large center rock that seemed to house the majority of the town. Wooden bridges and staircases connected the different neighborhoods to each other. Brightly colored lean-toes were intermingled with sand-worn terracotta buildings.
The sun was low in the sky as Granny led the two men across the bridges and up the stairs toward the center of town. Cyno, from his perch atop one of their backs, took in the wonder around him. Never had he seen so many buildings or people gather in one place.
"Granny," Cyno said, "what is this place?"
"It's called Aaru Village. It's been many years since I've been here, but I remember there being quite a few healers to look after the sick folk who would arrive from beyond, and many learned scholars would pass through on their way to and from the Great Red Sands. Surely they will know what ails you."
The people of the village gave strange looks to the strangers who walked through their streets. Cyno felt his muscles tense under their gaze, but he couldn't tell if it was due to his own nerves or the start of an episode.
Word of their arrival must have traveled ahead of them because, by the time they had reached the largest building at the highest point of the village, a man was already standing on its front steps to greet them.
He was a slight man with a gentle demeanor, but he stood straight and proud. A young girl with dark hair stood behind him. She leaned around him to see the strangers approach, and her gaze quickly latched onto Cyno's. Her strangely colored eyes did not blink as she sized him up.
"Welcome to Aaru Village, brothers and sister. My name is Anpu, and I am the chief of the village," said the man, Chief Anpu, as Cyno's group approached, "You walk with purpose. May I ask what brings you to our humble town? Are you just passing through?"
Granny shook her head and motioned for the man carrying Cyno to bring him forward. As soon as he was set down to stand, he wavered on his feet, causing the tribesman to hold on to his shoulders—his grip burning like all touch seemed to for Cyno—to keep him upright. Granny cleared her throat, and as she began to speak, her voice took on a strange cadence to Cyno's ears.
"Our youngest here has recently lost his parents, and since then he has been afflicted with a strange sickness. It does not appear contagious, but he is in constant pain, and there is no telling when he might be overtaken and lose control of his body. We fear for his life. Please, our healers have been able to do nothing. We come seeking help from those more fortunate than our humble tribe."
With every set of eyes on him, Cyno's heart began to race. His limbs trembled and pain began to form behind his eyes.
"Uncle," the girl behind Chief Anpu said, "He doesn't look well."
Chief Anpu nodded, "Yes, at the very least, he looks exhausted. Bring him inside." He motioned for them to follow him as he made his way to the large building's door.
The tribesman supporting Cyno's weight scooped him up into his arms and followed after Chief Anpu and the girl. Soon Cyno found himself placed in a bed, and a damp cloth was laid across his forehead. The coolness of the cloth helped to focus his awareness once more, and he saw that Granny and Chief Anpu stood by his bed, talking with one another.
"He is very sick and exhausted from your journey. He can rest here for the night."
"Thank you for your kindness," Granny said, "Have you seen an ailment such as his before?"
Chief Anpu shook his head.
"Nothing comes to mind based on your description and what I see before me, but there are other healers in the village that may know differently than me. For tonight, I can give him something to help him sleep. It might ease his pain some, too. Tomorrow, I will ask the others to look at him. I'm afraid that this is our only extra bed here. I can help set up you and the rest of your group with nearby accommodations."
"Oh no need," she said, "We prefer to stay in tents. We will set up camp on the edge of town so that we are not in your way."
"Very well."
At that point, the girl came up to them with a cup on a tray.
"Thank you, Candace," Chief Anpu said as he took the tray from her, and she nodded before walking away. Chief Anpu handed the cup to Granny. "See if you can get him to drink this. Then we will at least provide you with dinner before you go make your camp."
Granny thanked him profusely once again before he walked away to an area of the room that had tables lining the walls and a large brick rectangle that took up a large portion of one of the walls from floor to ceiling with a fire housed in its open center.
The fire made Cyno nervous. Fires weren't allowed inside. It was a basic law to maintain one's safety, and he was concerned that the chief of this village didn't know that. Of course, the law was made with tents in mind, so maybe it was different with buildings. He was just about to ask Granny as she sat down on the edge of his bed, but she interrupted his line of thinking with her own request.
"Here you go, deary, drink this, and it should help," she said, supporting his head and holding the cup to his lips, but Cyno turned his head.
"Please don't go. I don't want to be left here alone with these strangers."
Granny shushed him. "Don't be ridiculous, deary. They're not strangers. Chief Anpu already told you his name, and I know this town, they are decent people and believers of the Al-Ahmar. Besides, look at how kind they have been so far. I told you the people here would help."
"Can't you stay here with me?"
"There's not enough room for us here. We won't be too far away."
Cyno eyed the strange-looking liquid in the cup. "Will you come see me in the morning? Can you be here when I wake up?"
"Of course, deary."
"Do you promise?"
"I'll promise if you drink all of the contents of this cup." Before the words were completely out of her mouth, she once again placed the cup at his lips and tilted it so that he had no choice but to open his mouth and drink. He struggled to swallow what was given to him, and she did not pull the cup away until all of the liquid was gone.
"There. All done. That wasn't so bad, was it? Now go to sleep, deary."
She did not wait for him to answer as she stood from the bed. She took the cup with her as she too made her way to the part of the room with the fire. Cyno watched as Chief Anpu handed each of his three companions a small package, presumably with the food he had offered them earlier. Then all four of them headed to the front door where they said goodnight and parted ways.
With the door closed, Cyno turned his head towards the ceiling. He listened to the sounds of the two strangers moving about their home until eventually the lights were dimmed as they retired to their own beds.
The strange medicine did little to help him sleep. His eyelids became heavier, but his pain was still a dull ache. Every now and then it would flair up, causing his muscles to seize. He clenched his teeth during those times to keep from waking the others, but tears still ran down the sides of his head and into his hair. Hours passed before he finally drifted off.
...
By the time the sun began to rise, Granny and the two tribesmen were long gone from Aaru Village.
...
Granny was not at Chief Anpu's house when Cyno woke up. He had thought she had promised to be there, but perhaps he had misunderstood. Chief Anpu was already awake and quickly made his way to Cyno's bedside with a cup in hand when he realized the young boy was awake as well.
"Hello young man," Chief Anpu said with a gentle smile. "I don't know if you remember, but my name is Anpu. You're staying with us for the time being. Can I get your name?"
Cyno eyed him warily. He didn't want to talk to him, but Granny had treated Chief Anpu with such respect, and he was afraid she would disapprove if he didn't do the same.
"I'm called Cyno," He said after another pause.
"Cyno. That's a good name. The Jackel was very important to King Deshret and his closest followers."
He handed Cyno the cup, and Cyno's wary gaze turned to its contents. Chief Anpu laughed.
"Don't worry, it's just water. Would you like anything to eat, Cyno?"
Cyno murmured his reply.
"What's that now?" Chief Anpu asked leaning closer.
Cyno spoke again, louder this time, "No thank you. I want to wait for Granny and the others." He even shook his head for emphasis. Elders ate first. It was another basic law of the tribe, and alone in such a strange environment, the laws were all he had.
Chief Anpu just nodded his head and said, "I'll just work on fixing a meal for all of you to eat when they get here." Then he made his way to the fire in the room.
As the morning continued and Granny and the others still hadn't arrived, Cyno became restless, and the pain in his limbs became worse. In an act of pity, Chief Anpu sent Candace to invite them to breakfast. Cyno asked to go with her, but Chief Anpu was adamant about him staying in bed until he regained his strength.
"Having something to eat would help with that," Chief Anpu said.
The reminder of food made Cyno aware of his growling stomach, but he could not eat until Granny arrived and had her share. He sunk back down in his bed and sullenly watched as Candace left to carry out her order.
When Candace returned, she just shook her head and said she couldn't find them. She spoke quietly to Chief Anpu, away from Cyno's bed, but her voice carried in the room.
"I circled the entire outside of the village, but I didn't see a campsite," she said.
At that Cyno, sat up from his bed. His heart began to race. "Something must of happened to them!"
He finally got up from his bed, but he didn't make it far. One step forward had his muscles cramping, and he crumpled to the ground. Both Chief Anpu and Candace rushed over to him.
"Candace, help me get him back in bed."
"No!" Cyno wrenched himself out of their grip, the sensation unbearable to him. He shook his head wildly back and forth.
"Something bad happened! I have to look for them!"
"Cyno, please calm down!" Chief Anpu raised his voice to be heard over the boy's cries. "I will send guards of the village out to look for them."
"Let me go with them! They're my tribe!" Cyno insisted.
"If you go, you'll only slow them down," Candace said quietly from where she crouched next to him. "They'll be so focused on making sure that you're okay that they might miss clues in their search."
Cyno stopped struggling as he considered her words.
"We'll send the village guardian to look for them. If your fellow tribe members are still around, she'll definitely find them."
If. She said if they were still around like they might not be, and Cyno felt his heart jump painfully in his chest at the thought.
Unaware of the turmoil she had caused, Candace turned to Chief Anpu and said, "Sis is back from her mission by the way."
Chief Anpu nodded like that was expected.
"I'll go inform her of what's going on. Watch over our guest until I get back, okay? And try and see if you can convince him to get back into bed or eat for that matter."
Candace nodded in return, and they both watched as he left. When he was gone, Candace turned back to Cyno.
"You should get back in bed," she said simply.
With his heart still squeezing painfully, Cyno doubted that he do anything else. Besides, the law was that Cyno had to stay in bed, and he had broken it. Granny wouldn't be pleased when she found out. If she found out, not when, apparently.
Candace smiled when he didn't argue with her and offered a hand to help him up. He reached out to take it, and for some reason, it didn't hurt as much as when he grabbed hold of it. His limbs were still stiff, so Candace helped him keep his balance until he was sitting back in his bed. She propped his pillow up against the headboard so that he could lean against it instead of laying down. It was a good compromise.
"Do you want something to eat?" She asked when he was settled.
She didn't seem surprised when he shook his head. She only nodded and then climbed onto the foot of the bed where she sat with her legs crossed. She propped her chin in both hands and stared, taking her duty to watch over him seriously and literally. This close up, Cyno realized her eyes were different colors. Her right eye was blue, but her left was a bright amber. He thought it kind of looked like there was a mora laying at the center of her eye.
"I'm Candace by the way," she said after a moment, and Cyno flinched at the sudden noise. He hadn't realized he had begun to stare at himself.
"I know," He said.
She nodded at his response and shrugged. "I figured, but I thought I'd tell you myself since we hadn't really been introduced."
A moment where Cyno wasn't sure how to respond passed. Then, "I am called Cyno."
"I know." She smiled at him, and he found himself returning it, but then her smile widened in a mischievous way. "But I think I'll call you Pup."
Cyno recoiled at that. "What? Why?"
"Because you showed up on our doorstep like a stray, and you're small and cute like a puppy. Plus, it's fitting for your name."
"Can't you just call me Cyno?" He said, trying to ignore the embarrassing heat of his cheeks.
"Nope." She punctuated the word by popping her lips together.
They didn't say anything else. Cyno refused to say another word in the wake of Candace's teasing, but she didn't seem to mind.
After some time had passed in relative silence that Cyno spent trying not to return Candace's persistent gaze, her eyes began to droop. Eventually, she leaned her head against the wall and fell asleep. Her soft snores were the only noise in the house.
Cyno was too tense to sleep. The cup of water that Chief Anpu had given him before was still half full and sitting on his bedside table. He was thirsty again, but he was afraid he would have to use the bathroom if he drank anymore.
Not wanting to focus too much on his bodily needs, Cyno counted the bricks in the strange fire holder. Then he moved on to tiles on the floor, and when he counted all of the tiles that weren't covered by furniture, he began counting the individual stitches in the embroidery of the quilt that covered his lap.
He started with a square in the corner of the quilt because, unlike most of the other squares, the stitches were bigger and more simplistic, just a bunch of blue and yellow circles, which made them easier to count. Much easier than the next square that had a complex embroidery of a spear and shield. That one took a lot longer to count all the stitches for.
He was almost finished counting the stitches on the seventh square of the quilt when the front door opened. Chief Anpu entered the room, followed by a woman, and Candace woke with a start. She quickly sat up, and if Cyno hadn't seen it himself, he never would have guessed that she had been asleep only seconds prior to their company entering.
"I kept watch like you said," Candace said to Chief Anpu as he walked towards them.
"Good job," he said as he ruffled her hair. "Has he eaten anything?"
Both Candace and Cyno shook their heads in answer, and Chief Anpu only sighed.
Cyno's attention strayed to the woman who had entered the house with Chief Anpu. He thought that maybe she was the Village Guardian—Sis, Candace had called her—and that she had news of his fellow tribe members, but Chief Anpu introduced her as another healer in the village who had come to assess his illness. He answered her questions about his pain and suppressed a wince as her fingers burned his skin during her examination. By the end of it, she didn't say anything that Cyno didn't already know.
"He's weak. He's suffering from exhaustion and malnourishment. Both of which probably started before he made the journey here. As for the physical cause of his pain, his muscles seem to be flexing involuntarily at sporadic intervals, which must be taxing on his body. His pulse is elevated and irregular, and his breathing is labored. He doesn't appear wounded or to have any rashes or infections, but his skin is hyper-sensitive. It doesn't look like his fever from last night fully broke, but his eyes look relatively lucid at the moment."
Okay, so maybe it was a bit more detailed than what he already knew, but when he asked what all that meant, she just shook her head.
"I don't know of any illness that would cause all of that." She turned to Chief Anpu. "You said he lost his parents relatively recently?"
"That's what his elder said last night. She seemed to think it was the trigger for his illness."
The healer hummed as she considered the young boy before her.
"It's possible that this is a physical manifestation of that trauma, and if that's the case, then there is not much we can do other than treat the symptoms as best as possible and wait for the body to heal with the mind, but the body won't heal itself if it doesn't have the proper nutrients to do so."
She said the last comment with a strange lilt to her voice as she stared directly into his eyes. Cyno just blinked back at her, unsure of how to respond. When he failed to speak, the healer shook her head and continued.
"How old are you, Cyno?"
It wasn't until he was asked that Cyno realized he didn't know the answer. If he knew his age before he got sick, then he definitely didn't remember it since, and no one had bothered to tell him afterward, nor had he thought to ask. All he could do was shrug and stew in his embarrassment.
"She also said his memory has been patchy since he fell ill," Chief Anpu offered, "She didn't mention his age either. Just said that he was young."
"He looks younger than me, and I just turned nine," Candace added.
"Thank you, Candace," the healer said, "He does look younger than you, but malnourishment can make you look younger than you really are, and we really don't know how long that's played a factor in his condition."
"We'll treat him based on his weight and height, regardless," Chief Anpu said, looking at Cyno with concern, "but let's assume that the malnourishment is a result of his other symptoms that have caused his body to need more nutrients then it usually would. That's an easy mistake to make."
He said that to Cyno like a condolence of sorts. As if his tribe had done something that needed excusing. Had his tribe done something that needed excusing? Cyno didn't think so. They had followed the laws of the tribe, and that's all you could ask of anyone.
It was well into the evening by then. With the examination and cross-examination done with, Chief Anpu and the healer stepped aside to discuss potential remedies to treat his various symptoms. Cyno stared after them, the world losing focus a little bit until he felt a nudge against his foot. He looked over at Candace who was still sitting at the opposite end of his bed.
"You okay, Pup?" She said, retracting her hand from where it had bumped into him.
Embarrassing nickname aside, Cyno thought it was a strange question to ask after the healer had just finished outlining how sick he was. Perhaps she meant emotionally then. He sighed and answered truthfully.
"I wish Granny was here. She usually sat with me in the evenings."
Candace nodded along.
"Well, I'll just sit by your side instead." She offered a smile.
"Until she gets back?"
"Yeah, and even after that, too. You really have nothing to worry about, though. The Village Guardian is on the case, and she's my big sister. Her name is Shana, but I call her Sis, and she's amazing. She'll definitely find out what happened to your tribesmen. She was trained by my dad who was the Village Guardian before her." Cyno nodded in response. "The chief is also our uncle. We call him Uncle Anpu. He took me and Shana in when Dad passed away. He's really nice, so he'll take good care of you like he takes care of us. He probably wouldn't mind if you called him Uncle Anpu, too, so no matter what, you shouldn't worry."
"Your parents are gone?" Cyno regretted the question as soon as it slipped out, but Candace didn't hesitate to answer.
"Yeah, my mom got sick after I was born. She was older, so the strain of the pregnancy was too much on her body. Dad died a couple years ago. I was still really young, so I don't remember much about what happened, but there was a really bad sandstorm, and he lost his life saving a couple of kids who had strayed too far from the village. Normally, the Village Keepers protect us from the sandstorms but the kids had wandered too far from the village. My dad went out into the storm to find them and..." She trailed off, not saying out loud what they both knew.
"My parents died, too," Cyno said looking down into his lap.
"They were talking about that earlier. How long ago has it been?"
"Several weeks now."
Candace blinked at him. "Wow, that's... really recent. You must still be really hurting."
Cyno nodded. "It was when I got sick. The pain started when Granny told me. It's hard to tell what's emotional and what's physical." He paused before he voiced the secret thought that he hadn't shared with anyone yet. "I kinda think it's my body telling me I can't live without them."
Candace took a moment to consider that before she shook her head.
"Nah, that's not it, 'cause if that was the case, me and Sis would be sick like you, too."
"But what if it's different with me?"
Candace shook her head again. "Children are supposed to outlive their parents. It just so happens that it happened sooner than it should have with us."
Once again, Cyno found himself with a lack of words, but before he figured out what he was supposed to say, the front door opened once again, and in walked a tall woman with short cropped hair, a shield in one hand and a spear in the other.
Candace scrambled from her place in his bed and launched herself at the woman, welcoming her home, and the woman hugged her tightly and spun her around. This had to be Shana, the Village Guardian, which meant—
"Did you find Granny and the others?"
Shana looked over at Cyno when he spoke. She gave Candace one last squeeze before gently pushing her to the side and heading toward his bed.
Chief... Uncle Anpu, tried to stop her in her tracks, quietly saying, "Maybe we should talk first?" But Shana shook her head, keeping her eyes on Cyno's own desperate gaze. When she got near her bed, she hung her spear and shield on pegs that were sticking out from the wall nearby. Oh, he realized belatedly that he was probably in her bed. Cyno thought that maybe she wanted it back after he had delayed her return from her own journey.
"Cyno, I presume?"
Her voice was calm and soothing. Both of her eyes were the same shade of blue as Candace's left eye. He nodded.
"I couldn't find any traces of a campsite, not even any signs that one had been put up and taken down." She paused, considering her words carefully. "I did, however, find a set of tracks. A set of three to be exact. I followed them, and they lead out into the desert. I lost the trail in the dunes. The sand is too loose out there, and the wind probably blew them away."
"Shana," Uncle Anpu snapped, "That's enough."
"He deserved to know the truth," Shana said, stepping back.
Uncle Anpu stepped forward and bent down to place a light hand on his shoulder.
"Young Cyno..." but Cyno wasn't listening.
Granny and the others had left. She promised she would stay, but she went back to the desert, long enough ago for the tracks to have vanished. It wasn't fair. But Cyno had broken the laws of the tribe, and Granny knew them by heart. But she had promised, hadn't she? And an oath must be kept. It was the law. This wasn't right. Nothing was how it should be. Everything was thrown off balance, and Cyno's head hurt trying to understand it all.
"Pup?" Candace said from beside him.
Cyno hadn't noticed her approach. He tried to look at her, but couldn't really see her through the tears that were already running down his cheeks. He opened his mouth to warn them of what he knew was coming, of the small lump in his chest that would grow until it overpowered him, but it was too late. Cyno was once again a prisoner in his own body that writhed in pain without his permission, and he could do nothing but try and bite back his scream.
...
None of the people in the room had really seen the full extent of one of Cyno's episodes. Candace stood frozen, watching her new friend in fascinated horror, while the three older folk in the room jumped into action.
Uncle Anpu ran to the kitchen, retrieving a jug of water and a cloth, and Auntie began digging through her medicine bag. Sis moved Candace back out of the way and gently maneuvered Cyno so that he was farther down the bed, his head nowhere near the headboard. She then put her hand on the nape of his neck for support.
"He won't lay down," Sis said.
"Working on it," said Auntie. She then pulled from her bag a bundle of dried leaves and got to work lighting a match.
Candace knew she told Cyno that she would watch over him, but she felt absolutely useless watching him in that moment. Cyno's eyes snapped open then, wide and wild with terror, and Candace was amazed.
"His eyes," she said, "look at his eyes!"
Because there was a twisted kind of beauty in how they shined, both with tears and an otherworldly light. Their hue had changed to a bright violet. The adults in the room only slightly hesitated at the sight of the unnatural change before they returned to their respective tasks.
With the bundle of leaves now smoking in her hand, Auntie sat next to Sis and held the bundle under his nose while the other kept her hand in place. After a moment of breathing in the smoke, his eyes rolled back into his head before they closed and he fell backward. Sis was quick to catch him and slowly lowered him back down into the bed, but even in unconsciousness, Cyno twitched and spasmed.
Returning from the kitchen, Uncle Anpu dipped the cloth in the jug of water that he placed on the beside table and wrung it out before he placed it on Cyno's forehead. For a moment, things seemed to calm enough for Auntie and Uncle Anpu to step back, but then Cyno began coughing and sputtering in his sleep.
Sis cursed.
"Candace, go grab the pillows from the other beds," she snapped, and Candace moved to do as instructed.
When she returned with two pillows, she saw that Sis was rolling Cyno onto his side, angling his head towards the ground.
"Good," Sis said, taking one of the pillows. "Help me stuff these against his back."
"Why are we doing this?" Candace said even as she complied. She thought he looked worse in this fetal position.
It was only when the task was done that Sis turned to Candace and explained. "When an unconscious person is in danger of choking, you need to them on their side and use what you have to keep them from rolling back onto their backs."
Candace nodded her understanding, but Sis was already turning back to Cyno. She refolded the wet cloth that had fallen away and placed it on the back of his flushed neck.
His breathing sounded clearer, but his body continued to move even in the new position.
Auntie looked down at Cyno in mild fascination.
"I was right about the sickness in his mind aggravating the sickness of his body, but it's much worse than I thought. If left unmonitored during an attack such as this, he could easily hurt himself beyond repair. This isn't normal."
"Did you see his eyes?" Candace whispered from where she sat watching as Cyno's twitching body began to settle.
No one answered her, but no answer was needed. She knew they had all seen the same otherworldly glow that she had.