TW: Panic attacks, Passing out, Fire, Blood, Wounds

William clambered up a wall, feeling exhausted. His head ached and he could hardly breathe.

Tommy sat beside the stream. Zach pointed at something in the water, mumbling a few words.

Eli grabbed John by the arm and playfully poked him in the side.

Dan wandered the empty streets, missing his pack.

Tom shrugged at his undead friend as he sprung to his feet. For some reason, it felt like something was wrong. Like he had a knot in his stomach. I'm just hungry, he reasoned. I haven't eaten in a few days.

Waving goodbye to Zach, he sprang off the wall and floated down to the decrepit city centre. Somewhere nearby, there had to be something to eat, right?

Exhaustion made Will move slowly, his heart speeding at the drop below him and his breathing growing difficult. Finally, after what felt like years, he reached the top of the cliff. Ahead was the city. He'd never been here before, and now his horrific state was imminently obvious. A crackling made him turn his head. Flames licked at a tree, immediately relighting the cinders of trauma left behind by The Great Fire. Breathing speeding up and growing shallower, he staggered away, wrapping his arms around his waist. Pain seared through him as he stumbled into a jagged wall, but he ignored the blood flowing down his side and continued shambling on.

Tommy could smell smoke. Hopping up a building and looking around with his spyglass, he watched a tree crumble to ash. Luckily, it was separated from the forest and couldn't burn the city any more than it already had been. Almost in sync with his brief wish for good weather, rain began to trickle down. A very quiet gasp made his head swivel around. Someone else was leaning against a nearby wall, wearing a thin dress shirt and ripped jeans. They seemed to be breathing heavily, and their orange ears poked up like they'd been struck by lightning. Making sure to stay quiet, Tommy sprang down and lightly stepped towards them.

He looked to be the same age, and in a much worse condition; clothes burnt and ripped, eyes wide in alarm, gashes covering their body.

"Are you okay?" asked Tom, shuffling closer. The only response he got was them collapsing to the floor.

"Someone help!" he wailed in alarm, crouching by the unconscious person.

Were they a wolf? No, wrong colour ears. Feline? Wrong tail. A fox? Yes, yes, a fox.

With all his strength, he hooked both arms under theirs and hoisted them up. Fortunately, they were rather light, and easy to drag to shelter.

John paused mid-glide, and dropped to the ground gently. Rain dropped off his wings and flattened his hair to his head.

"Should we move?"

Eli nodded, dashing to shelter near the city centre. A yowl of alarm came from North of them, kicking both their instincts into play. Eli began to dash forwards, and John followed soon behind. When they found the source, they found an avian hunched over an unconscious vulperian, the avian looking scared and confused.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, I just found him and he passed out. Do either of you know what to do?"

Taking a deep breath, John stepped forward, gripping his waterproof bag.

First, he checked for a pulse; there, but faint and slowing rapidly. Clenching his only dry bandage, the elytrian wrapped it around a large wound on their side, and pressed an ear to his chest. Breathing was fast and shallow. Placing both hands on the fox's shoulders, he shook, waking him up.

"I need you to name five things you can see."

"U-Uh- uh- you, a-an avian, an a-arachnid- the rain, concrete."

"Four things you can hear."

"You- your voice, rain, thunder, dripping w-water."

"Three you can smell."

"R-Rain, blood, s-smoke."

"Two you can feel."

"C-Concrete, dripping water."

"One you can taste."

"Blood."

Sighing with relief as the fox calmed down, John gently wrapped an arm around his waist.

"Try your best to get to sleep. I'll make sure you're safe."

As if on command, the vulperian passed out a second time, breathing slower and deeper. With two fingers, he pried open his mouth to check there were no major injuries there. Just a bitten tongue.

A/N: my mental health is rapidly deteriorating but hEY- atleast i have something to write :D. hopefully i'll update some of my other stories soon but it depends if i stay obsessed with this story. enjoy your original story