He was exhausted.
The boy trudged through the underbrush, doing his best to ignore the ache and sting in his bare feet as they met with stones and twigs hidden by the dark. The light had dwindled hours ago, and clouds overtook the bright orb hanging in the sky now, robbing him of all but the barest minimum of his sight. Still... he knew he couldn't stop.
Twice they had come close to catching him. It was just by luck and desperation that the boy called Icarus had kept himself from their grasp, but now his body was worn and weak. He hadn't slept, nor had he had anything but water for the past three days, and that had been a rarity in itself. If he didn't keep moving, they would find him. And this time he wouldn't be able to escape.
He had done his best to avoid populated areas since he had been on the run. He'd found towns and cities, buildings tall and short, and had seen a fair many humans. But these places were dangerous for him. He had kept his distance, knowing he would stand out. A boy dressed all in white, the back of his shirt torn open, with a scrape along his cheek and his feet blackened and scratched? He would draw too much notice. And so when he began to hear and see the barest hints of life and light in front of him once again, he was appropriately wary.
It was not a town this time. It almost seemed like a celebration of sorts; there were people everywhere, moving and talking animatedly to each other as they wove their way through the crowd and scattered makeshift buildings. Icarus stopped at the treeline, carefully placing himself just beyond where the light touched, and allowed himself to be still.
Had he ever experienced anything like this before? Had he ever sidestepped a family to get to whatever attractions places like this had to offer? Had he ever eaten whatever made the smell that was wafting toward him, the smell that made his stomach both turn anxiously and groan at its own emptiness? He wished he knew the answers. Instead of dwelling on it, knowing that it would help nothing, he leaned his tired body against a tree and just watched.
Just for a little while, he told himself. Just... a little while.
