"....mmm..." Ryker mumbled.

"I guess that's true..." he said, as his eyes closed and he drifted off to sleep as well.

The thing about Ryker was that he was a light sleeper. So when the sun was just rising, and the rays peeked in through the curtains, he was the first one to wake up.

And he noticed that Eke was still asleep, beside him.

"......." he was silent for a moment, before sighing lightly, and looking at the ceiling.

'Poor thing probably needed this.' he thought, deciding to wait for Eke to wake up on his own.

Ryker had gotten up in the intervening time, and was looking out the window at the morning sun.

"Morning." he said.

"Sleep well?" he asked.

"And feel good after that shower?" he asked him.

"It can make one feel like a new man." he then commented.

"Uh, yeah." Ryker responded.

"There's some bottles of it in a bucket of ice on the table." he told him.

"Those pills?" he asked.

"What do you need them for?" he asked further.

"....feel free to not answer, though." he then added.

"......hm." Ryker muttered.

"I... see." he said.

"That... hm. That has to be a hassle." he commented.

"....how are you doing on those, anyway? How much left?" he then asked.

"There's a pharmacy in town we can hit up before we move on."

"I'll bet it is." Ryker responded, taking the candy that was offered.

"...." he was then silent, and sighed.

"We should probably go." he said.

"It won't be long before those guys I pummeled get the word out, and who knows what'll happen then..." he sighed.

"No clue." Ryker admitted.

"Probably just some thugs that were part of a gang or something." he said further, before sighing.

".....come on." he muttered.

"We need to leave town." he said.

"We'll grab breakfast along the way."

Ryker continued to push forward, just wanting to get out of town.

"....I'm making one more stop as we leave." he told Eke.

"If we're going to end up sleeping outside again, we'll need a portable shelter." he reasoned.

"So I'm getting an insulated tent."

Ryker returned after a very short while... and immediately noticed something was off. And it didn't take long for him to realize what had happened here.

"AH! NO!" he yelled, throwing his stuff to the side and jumping into the water after Eke.

The ice-cold water stung at his skin, but he swam down until he saw Eke, grabbing him by the arm and swimming him back up to the surface, pulling him towards the edge of the river.

"Kid!" he exclaimed, reaching the bank and pulling Eke onto dry land.

"Hey, kid, speak to me!"

"Damn it, damn it, DAMN IT!" Ryker cursed.

He then started to initiate CPR. He placed his hands atop Eke's chest, and began the compressions, making sure not to overdo it. However, he knew that wouldn't be enough.

Eke wasn't breathing.

So, once he finished the first set of compressions, he placed his mouth over Eke's and puffed in two breaths, in an effort to jump-start the dragon-boy's lungs.

"....." Ryker was silent as he witnessed Eke, before holding him close.

"Good." he said.

"You're alive." he said further.

"Are you all right?" he then asked, loosening his grip so he could look into his eyes.

"Just nod or shake your head. There's no need to speak."