To me, it sometimes seems as if Cooro wants to drown. Always finding himself in situations involving water, heavy objects, falling, who wouldn't think that? And whenever situations like these occurred, Nana and Senri would always sit there, doing nothing but staring at me, waiting for the inevitable rescue I would provide. I would rescue him, I'm not that cruel, but I've always wondered…
"HUSKYYY!"
I'm startled out of my daydream by a familiar shriek, and I glance over Nana's way, only jumping to my feet when I see the look of genuine panic on her face.
"That sounded like Cooro!" Suddenly, a look of deeper terror shows on her face.
"He's falling!"
Before I even realize it, I'm swiftly jumping over the rocks bordering Lake Ambrosia, getting the shimmering surface in view just in time to see a flailing Cooro obstruct it. The sound of impact is somehow sickening, and it echoes in my head like a sonic boom. For a few seconds, I'm just stunned, staring into space with awestruck horror. This happens most every time he collides with the waves. I don't know what it is, but the way he does is different.
"Hurry!" Nana yells, shoving me.
I shake my head, recollecting myself, and run into the water, eventually breaking into a swim. My neck starts to tingle, and I feel a familiar sensation as my legs morph into fins. Soon, I spot Cooro, lying in the sand and shells, not moving. His wings are still out, and I notice something. Something that would have been better to notice on land, when Cooro was conscious.
Cooro's wings have been clipped.
I immediately push my arms underneath his body and pull him against my chest. His wings weakly wrap around me as I'm swimming towards land, and I can't be sure if it's involuntary or not. But, either way, I appreciate the small gesture. Come to think of it, I don't think I've ever actually felt Cooro's wings up close. Sure, his feathers graze me when he takes off or lands, and when we were in Magdala's cell, he tried blocking the water with them, brushing me, but he's never actually held me with them. It was a nice sensation, though strange, and I liked it.
We reach the shore as my Anima dissipates, and I flop Cooro onto the sand. I'm soon right next to him, my ear above his mouth and my hand on his chest, trying to sense to slightest movement or breath, but no avail.
"H-Husky? W-where are his remiges?" Nana stammers, surprising me. She falls onto her knees opposite me, and I hear her staggered breaths, signaling tears.
"I don't know, Nana, but I do know that he needs CPR." Nana gasps and slides aways away.
"Are you trained?" She asks.
"Trust me, Nana. My mother trained me as a child and I've been practicing almost everyday since then. She never taught me how to save myself, though…"
"...oh."
Straddling him, I place my hands on Cooro's chest and press down. Remembering the instructions clearly, I compress thirty times, and clear the airways, listening for breath. Nothing. I roll my eyes and groan inwardly at what I'm about to do, but I bend down, plugging Cooro's nose as I give him two rescue breaths. It'll save his life, I keep telling myself, but I can't help but think otherwise. Just as I disconnect, Cooro coughs loudly, catching an extremely red-faced Nana's attention. She starts running towards us, but I hold my hand up.
"Wait, Nana. We don't know if that's a one-time thing."
She backs off, plopping her bottom in the sand, but Cooro coughs again, this time squirming underneath my weight. His wing flaps once, causing particles of sand to fly everywhere, but I'm still not phased.
But then his eyes open.
His eyes open, and I feel the weight of a ton lifted off my heart, just like always.
"H-Husky..?" Cooro stutters. "W-where am-"
He is silenced by the palm of my hand striking his face.
"You winged idiot! That is the last time I am letting you fly over water. Never again, I swear." I say, resulting in the crumpling of Cooro's expression. I turn away, as to not break down and cry, right then and there.
"...no more fish..?"
I am about to send the glare of all glares his way, but Nana stops me.
"H-Husky? The feathers?"
I remember, then realize Cooro has pulled his wings behind his back, trying to transform.
Usually when a +Anima's Anima has been damaged, the bearer cannot transform back to human form until they are healed. But in this case, Cooro may take years to heal if we don't do something.
He may have to stay in Anima form his entire life, and not be able to use it.
I reach behind Cooro's back and gently splay his wings before feeling along the halved feathers, looking for signs of blood, perhaps caused by his struggle under the scissors. Sure enough, I find a lengthy slice along the first arm, bleeding steadily.
"Nana," I call. She runs up to us. "Get the first aid."
As she skitters to our camp, I continue the inspection, luckily finding nothing else serious. I move off Cooro, getting to the damaged side and I apply pressure to the wound, trying to stabilize the flow of blood. He hisses in pain and winces, body tensing up.
Suddenly, Nana holds a roll of bandages up to my face, and I inwardly jump.
"Here you go. Do you need any help?"
"No. The best thing you can do is stand back."
"Um, okay."
It's then that I notice Cooro furiously licking his lips. I feel my face growing hot, and I quickly look down and start wrapping the wing.
"Hey, Husky?" Cooro says.
"Yeah?" I say, not looking up.
"Has the lake always tasted like cinnamon apple pie?"
It feels as if someone just set fire to my face.
"Uh, y-yes." I stammer.
"'Cause, wow, is it delicious."
No firefighters in sight.
"Might even be better than Miss Emma's."
The flames are uncontrollable.
"It's almost addicting."
And there's nothing but rubble left.
"C-Cooro, I need to concentrate," I say, cursing my stutter afterward.
"Oh, sorry. But still-"
"Cooro."
He shuts his cinnamon apple pie hole.
Before I know it, Cooro's wing is bandaged and he's still licking his lips.
"Hey, Husky. Do you mind if I go get some more water from the lake?" Cooro asks.
"Yes, I do mind. I don't wanna have to give you CPR again." I answer, and before I realize what I said, I've already said it.
"Huh?"
"N-nothing. Just go back to the camp. It's getting dark and I think Nana's already asleep."
"What about Senri? He can watch me."
"Senri is peddling with Rose this week."
"Oh. Right."
I hold my hand out for Cooro, and he clasps it, pulling himself up.
"You sure you're all right?" I ask.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Just tired."
"Alright, come on then."
We walk to the camp where, of course, Nana has fallen asleep. She's curled up next to a tree, snoring quietly. Cooro pulls his wings in as far as he can, then lies down by the tree opposite her, and I lie on the ground a few yards away from him. Soon, everyone but me is seemingly sound asleep, and I finally let my guard down enough to close my eyes.
But something moves.
I slowly open one eye and look in the direction of the offending sound, only to see Cooro shifting furiously. Guess he wasn't asleep after all. As a matter of fact, he looks incredibly uncomfortable. He keeps trying to lean against the tree, but his wings keep bending awkwardly to the sides, and that must hurt. Not to mention the bandage and the wound beneath it.
"Cooro?" I say.
He gasps but tries to hide it with a snort of awakeness. "Mmwha..?"
"Are you having trouble sleeping?"
"...maybe."
I stand up and walk over to Cooro. He flutters his deep brown eyes open.
"Come on," I say, pointing my head towards the water.
He gets up and shuffles his wings against his back. The bandage is starting to leak onto Cooro's clothes, which isn't very good, so as we exit, I grab the roll to patch it up. Cooro follows me as I lead him to the lake, but we switch positions so I can replace his tourniquets.
"Uh, Husky?"
"Yeah?"
"Why are we here?"
"My mother used to say that the sound of water is a better sleep aid than any drug, and she's usually right."
"Ah, okay."
The tarnished gauze is completely off now, in a bloody pile by my side, and the wound is still flowing. It's kind of frightening to think of all the blood that's been sacrificed. Wait, when Senri licks his wounds, the saliva dries up and causes the blood to clot quicker, so maybe I could- I stop my thought process.
"It's worth a shot." I murmur.
"Huh?"
In the back of my mind, I'm screaming at myself, but it's nothing against the seriousness of the situation, and how this might be our only shot. I smoothly move to Cooro's side and lift his wing up so I can see the still bleeding wound. His wing flutters a bit, and he turns to look at me.
"What are you-" Cooro stops when my tongue grazes his wound.
He whimpers a bit, raising his hand before resting, leaning forward and subduing to me.
Believe it or not, the red fluid tastes something like the ocean, but more metallic, and a bit rusty. It's actually kinda good. But pretty soon, the wound runs dry. I reach for the bandages, grab them, and wrap the wing up again. As I'm finishing, I hear a soft snore from Cooro. Sure enough, he's fallen asleep.
I sigh and gently push Cooro's wing against his back. My head rests on his shoulder, and I close my eyes. It's then that I realize something.
Cooro hadn't eaten anything all day.
Maybe he'd like some cinnamon apple pie.