but it proves difficult with his father sitting next to him. “Father?” he calls softly. His father doesn’t react, nor does he acknowledge Hugo’s presence, as he lies motionless on the ground, breathing shallowly, staring unblinkingly into the darkness of the cave. Hugo hesitates before continuing: “Can you come with me? Please?” His father makes no indication that he heard him or has acknowledged his existence as he continues to stare at the wall ahead of him, unmoving, breathing deeply as he sits unmoving against the wall. Hugo watches him for a moment longer before carefully climbing to his feet and walking cautiously over to him. ‘Is he dead?, he wonders briefly, before shaking his head slightly. He crouches down next to him and puts a tentative hand upon his shoulder. “Sir…are you alright..?” He pauses to look at him questioningly, hoping that he’ll say something, but he remains silent, his breathing shallow. Hugo gives up on trying to coax anything out of him as he gets to his feet and leaves him, walking quietly towards the entrance of the cave as he walks, trying to figure out what he should do now.
He stops suddenly when he hears the sound of someone coming near the cave, looking around cautiously as he tries to locate the source of the noise. When he recognizes the soft footsteps that belong to a child carrying a torch, he quickly steps aside so that they won’t bump into him, hiding his face inside his cloak. They pass by him without pausing in their steps, their steps echoing through the tunnel before they disappear from sight. It isn’t until then that he realizes that he’s trembling. He feels as if he could collapse in on himself any minute now, feeling as though all the strength has left his body, leaving him feeling weak and drained, ready to succumb to the pain he’s sure is coursing through his body. Slowly, he lowers himself back to the ground next to his father, letting the tears run freely down his cheeks as his knees sink into the dirt below him. ‘Why…why am I crying?? How am I crying?? What happened?? What am I supposed to do?!’
A part of him wants to run away. He desperately wants to get lost, to escape from this place and the memories that are constantly flashing before his eyes. That, of course, goes against every fiber in his being telling him to stay put, to not run away. So he stays where he is, curled up into a ball, shivering violently. The only thing that seems to help him is the soft light radiating from the torch that the girl brought along. He watches it, mesmerized, wishing that it would make the pain go away faster, but even then, he knows that it’s no use. It will take much longer for him to fully recover from this.
It’s another hour before the girl finally returns with a cup of water, which she hands to him while she keeps talking to him softly through gritted teeth as she kneels on the floor next to him, placing her arm under his legs to help him sit up. Hugo drinks the water obediently, his mouth too numb to protest against whatever the strange girl may say at the moment, as his eyes remain fixed on the water dripping from the cup in his hands, slowly filling it with air. His thoughts drift off in circles as he tries to think of what to do next, the only thing preventing him from completely losing his sense of reality at the moment being the burning pain spreading throughout his entire body.
He hears her sighing in frustration as she stands up and grabs her bow, which she throws back over her shoulder onto her back. “Alright, fine. You win. We’ll do it your way…but this time, don’t forget what we’ve agreed on – you’