My Feverish Assassin

Head Aches

Runaan shut the door before going into their lounge. He'd taken half of the day off to send Ethari off and be there when Rayla got home from school. He also had taken the next day off. He didn't really have that much to do now except wait for the young elfling. She'd be home in the evening and that left Runaan to think of ways to entertain himself.

He certainly couldn't burn something for fun anymore since Ethari would have a heart attack at him being anywhere near fire. Suddenly his eye caught a book on the floor. Reading was not the most enjoyable activity for him but it would do. The assassin walked over to where the book was and picked it up, sitting down on the couch.

It turns out that the book he was reading wasn't to his taste so he ended up asleep on the couch when Rayla ran through the door shouting, "Runaaaaan! I'm home!" That woke him up. Runaan sat up groggily and immediately lay back down. He put his hand to his forehead groaning. "Runaan?" Rayla called wandering into the lounge where the assassin lay.

"Runaan? Are you awake? Runaan!" "Uuuuhhh. Rayla! Why would you do that?" "You weren't saying anything." She replied innocently "That's no excuse to shout in my ear." He started sitting up "It was sooo boooring! Why do I have to go to school? Why can't I just train with you?" The elfling whined "I teach you how to fight, school teaches you why we fight." Runaan explained trying to ease the pounding in his head.

"Do you have any homework?" He asked her "Nope." Rayla said a little too enthusiastically. The assassin raised an eyebrow and asked, unconvinced, "Fine. But it's so stupid." She moaned "Go upstairs and do your homework. Come down when dinner's ready." He said "Okaaay." The elfling stomped up the stairs. Runaan sighed before heading to the kitchen to prepare dinner.

"Rayla! Dinner's ready!" He shouted before wincing at his volume "I'm coming!" She replied. Rayla came down to a dinner of sandwiches. She smiled at her surrogate baller before joining him at the table. "This looks great!" The elfling exclaimed before digging in. Unfortunately the assassin didn't have a very big appetite and only managed to finish half of his meal.

When Rayla finished she begged, "Can we have moonberry surprise for dessert? Pweeeaase?" Runaan sighed giving in "Yes Rayla. Just give me a second." He got started making it and in a few minutes he was done. "Yay!" She exclaimed before taking a huge bite out of the side. Runaan chuckled "Slow down Rayla." "Why?" The elfling replied with her mouth full of her favourite dessert.

Suddenly Runaan was overcome with a wave of nausea and felt very lightheaded. "Uuuuhhh." He groaned. Rayla paused gauging her face and looked over at the assassin with worry. "Runaan? Are you OK?" She asked "Y-Yes. I-I'm fine. Just not hungry." Runaan pushed the plate away. "I can have it if you don't want it." Rayla said smiling mischievously.

"No. Finish yours." He said sternly. "Okaaaay." She agreed then continued filling her face with moonberry surprise. Runaan chuckled at the mess his daughter was making. Rayla suddenly let out a muffled yawn. "Bedtime." Runaan said "But I'm not tired." She insisted, yawning and rubbing at her eyes "Sure you are. Now quickly. Go brush your teeth. I'll be up in a minute." He said picking up the left over dishes to put them in the sink.

"Okay." The elfling said tiredly whilst going up the stairs. Runaan sighed putting the plates down and gently rubbed his temples in an attempt to stop the painful pounding in his head. "I've done it!" Came Rayla's -very loud- reply from above. He came upstairs and when he got to her door he knocked before coming in. The assassin kissed his daughter goodnight before stumbling out of the room.

Runaan was barely standing up as he walked over to his room. The thought of his comfy bed was the only thing keeping him on his feet. As soon as Runaan got to his bed, he collapsed onto it and just stayed there amidst the silky sheets. After a while he let go of the last strands of consciousness and fell asleep. The next morning his headache wasn't gone.

In fact it had only gotten worse. He could barely sit up without passing out from lightheadedness dont even get me started on standing up. Every time he tried to stand or make a quick movement he would have to bolt over to the bathroom. Then sit there on the floor trying to ease the pain for a bit so he could stand for more than ten seconds without collapsing.

Luckily Rayla was still asleep and didn't hear any of the thumping when the assassin fell to the floor. When he finally managed to actually get dressed Rayla was awake and knocking on his door asking, "Runaan? Are you okay in there?" Runaan opened the door and answered the alert elfling standing outside "Yes Rayla. I'm perfectly fine." "Okie. Morning." She greeted him grinning before turning and running downstairs for breakfast.

"Hold on Rayla!" He called after her before taking off down the stairs too. This was a very bad idea though since that sharp action sent off a spasm in his chest and soon Runaan had doubled over in a coughing fit. By the time the assassin got into the kitchen to a concerned Rayla he was very out of breath. "Ehm. Runaan? Are you alright?" She asked coming over to her father.

"I'm fine Rayla. I-I just need to sit down." He said trying to catch his breath and sitting down. "What about breakfast?" The elfling asked "Hm? Oh right y-yeah just give me a minute." Runaan said having almost caught his breath. After catching his breath again Runaan starting making breakfast. When they'd finished Runaan asked what Rayla wanted to do today since it was the weekend and she had no school.

"Can we go to the adoraburr field?" She asked hopefully. Runaan glanced outside to check if the weather was alright. It was pouring it down. "I'm not sure we should Rayla. The weather isn't very good out there." He said uneasily. "C'mon Runaan. Pweeeaase? Please, please, please, pweeeaase?" She begged. Runaan sighed, "Fine. But get your waterproofs on before. You don't wanna catch a cold." "Okie!" The elfling exclaimed before running off into the hall.

The assassin followed her and helped the excitable elfling put on her waterproofs before putting his on. Once they had their coats on, they headed outside and made their way to the field where their furry friends lived. Rayla had a spring in her step and soon they arrived at the field. Runaan had expected there to be not that many adoraburrs today since it was raining but he was proven wrong when Rayla jumped into the long grass and came out covered in the tiny creatures.

Runaan's eyes shone with excitement and giddiness as he himself copied his daughter and fell into the long grass. Like Rayla, he came out covered from head to toe with adoraburrs. The assassin laughed so much he had to sit down to catch his breath. Rayla came over to check on him and they both ended up in a pile of out of control laughing elves. Suddenly, Runaan seemed to finally notice the cold and the the weariness that was seeping into his body.

He started to shiver uncontrollably and it wasn't long before Rayla noticed as well and paused laughing her head off. "Runaan?" She called for him but he didn't hear her. "Runaan?" She tried again but still no reply from the assassin "R-Rayla I-I think w-we should go h-home now. O-Okay?" He stuttered still shivering "Already? But we haven't even been here that long." Rayla complained completely forgetting about her father's state.

"R-Rayla p-please it's too cold to stay out here any longer." Rayla stopped her little tantrum to actually realise that Runaan was in no condition to stay out there in the cold and mummy and daddy had told her to always listen to Runaan and Ethari. "Okay. Let's go." "G-Good. Alright then l-let's go." He said trying to stand up. Eventually Rayla had to help him up and they set off home.