Clyde gently moves the catgirl away and holds Catherine on her side, firmly patting her back until water spills from her mouth. Rolling her back into supine position, Clyde checks for a pulse.

“I don’t feel it.”

Without hesitation, Clyde folds one hand over the other and begins chest compressions on Catherine. Unfortunately, the consistent, hard pulsing shifted the torn portion of Catherine’s dress away, revealing one of her breasts.

The frantic girl covers a gasp with her hand, before shock gives way to anger. “What are you doing?! STOP IT!” she screams.

Focused and calm, Clyde replies, “CPR- cardiopulmonary resuscitation.”

After counting the first set of compressions, Clyde preps for rescue breaths, tilting Catherine’s chin up and pinching her nose. Right as his lips touch Catherine’s, the young girl is once again sent into a frenzy.

“YOU CAN’T KISS HER!” she yells, toppling over Clyde and pushing him away from Catherine.

“STOP IT! I’m trying to save her!!”

Forcing his way back up, Clyde again moves the catgirl away and resumes his position. “Watch her chest, make sure it’s inflating,” he commands, before immediately beginning the next rescue breath.

The crazed girl calms a bit as she observes Catherine’s chest gently rise and fall back down with the breath.

“She’s breathing?...”

Clyde once more checks for a pulse- nothing. He continues on to the next set of compressions.

After another full round of CPR, the frozen catgirl begins to weep.

“Go get a priest- Hayden, somebody. Anyone with resurrect. Now!” Clyde says, continuing compressions in another set.

But the young girl does not move; she sits frozen, unsure of what is happening or what to do next.

Clyde sighs. “My name is Clyde. What’s yours?”

“Mia” she sputters.

“Mia, We are going to save her, but I need a priest with resurrect. The faster the better. Please, go grab one quickly and we will save her.”

Mia stands up, but again, remains still. “There isn’t enough time, though, she isn’t breathing!”

“MIA, NOW!” Clyde yells, shocking Mia into a sprint back to the village.

She looks back while running, and sees Clyde doing mouth-to-mouth again, turning back to shake the image out of her head.

~

Determined, Clyde continues CPR. Now all alone, he hears bushes moving in the forest.

It’d be really bad if another goblin showed up. How did it even get in? When I entered the town, it had a large wall, and we even went through a gate. Did the wall not protect the entire town?

He readjusts himself around Catherine’s head in between compressions, so that his back faces the river. Just in case…

After each set, Clyde’s arms burn. His breathing becomes more quick and labored, his legs wobble from his position. The sweat drips down his face and onto Catherine. His muscles scream at him to stop, but he refuses to and keeps going.

The rocks in the dirt dig into his knees.

Fuck, my knees hurt.

Please, don’t let this be for nothing. Please live.

Don’t die.

Come on!

In the midst of compressions, Clyde could feel a crack under his weight: one of Catherine’s ribs broke.

Fuck!

Live, please!!

Just a moment longer…

A little more.

Hurry, Mia!!

Come on, I need you here now.

Where are you?!

Please live…

Finally, Clyde hears distant footfalls in the distance.

“CLYDE!” Mia yells out.

“Over here!” He replies breathlessly. “Hurry, please!!”

Mia bursts out from the treeline, with Hayden rushing through shortly after.

Hayden approaches and looks at Catherine. “Clyde, is she dead?”

“Yes, she needs to be resurrected!” he exclaims, still doing compressions as his legs shook under him.

“How long has she been dead?”

Clyde shakes his head, tired and annoyed. “4 Minutes at most, just resurrect her!”

Hayden presses his lips together in a frown. “Clyde, don’t lie to me. It took us more than 20 minutes to get here, and probably the same to find me.”

“I said 4 minutes!! It took just four minutes to start CPR. She’s going to be fine, Remember what I said?! She isn’t going to be brain dead! JUST CAST RESURRECT!”

Hayden, ignoring Clyde, turns to the small catgirl. “Mia, how long?”

“...”

“Mia, HOW LONG?!”

Mia looks down, tears plopping down from her cheeks into the dirt. “40 minutes, at least..”

Hayden shakes his head. “I can’t, she will be a husk.”

“She won’t be a husk!” Clyde screams. “I promise you!”

“You can’t promise me that Clyde.”

“I don’t want her to die. We have to do something!” he pleads, still putting all of his strength into his weak compressions.

Hayden heaves a deep sigh. “If you’re wrong, you’ll have to bear responsibility...”

“I’m fine with that- even if it means I forfeit my life, I will!”

Mia begs “please Hayden, save her!”

Clyde continues CPR while Hayden places his hand on Catherine’s head, beginning the incantation for resurrect. Once Hayden pulls back, Clyde finally stops and he sits back exhausted.

“Please, please don’t be dead… Please…” he whispers.

Mia holds Catherine's hand with both of hers, squeezing it gently as tears continue falling from her face and onto her friend’s cheek. “Catherine, can you hear me? Please say something- anything.”

After a brief moment, Catherine’s eyes open and her body lurches upward slightly, retching up the river water that built up in her body.

She coughs and looks around at the others, her pale face filling with color. Her eyes focus on Mia.

“I’m okay.” Catherine says, squeezing Mia’s hand back reassuringly. “The goblin didn’t hurt you, did it?”

Without answering, Mia lunges onto Catherine, enveloping her in a tight embrace. “I didn’t know what was going on, I was so scared!!”

Catherine winces, at the unexpected embrace “Did something happen?”

Hayden kneels down by the girls. “Catherine, what’s the last thing you remember?” he asks in a graven tone.

“The goblin coming after Mia and I,” she responds clearly.

Hayden stands back up, his face scrunched in thought. “Clyde, we will talk about this later. But for now, let us return to the town before nightfall. We don’t want to be in the forest when it’s dark.”

Mia helps Catherine up, supporting her from the side. Catherine looks down at her ripped dress, and brings her arms in close to cover herself.

She bows her head to Mia’s ear, whispering low, “Did you leave me alone with him?” she asks, gesturing to Clyde with her head.

“Yes, I had to find Hayden,” Mia whispered back. “I don’t understand. He was kissing you when I left…”

Catherine looks up at Clyde, blushing and turning her body away from his view. Hayden takes off his cloak and wraps it around Catherine.

The four walk back toward the village with naught a word spoken. Time was moving so fast for Clyde in the forest, but now it seemed to drag on. His feet felt like they were attached to cinder blocks as he shuffled them behind Hayden. It was all he could do to just stay upright.

Once clearing the forest edge and reaching the smithy, Catherine dashed into the shop, tears streaming behind her.

Airi, standing next to the entrance, stares at Clyde with disgust. She walks up to him in a fury, her hand raised high in the air.

Clyde flinches and braces for impact. Just as Airi releases the hardest slap she’s ever mustered, Hayden catches her hand before it could make contact with Clyde’s cheek, resulting in a loud clap.

“We will talk about this when we get back,” Hayden tells her sternly, bringing Airi’s hand back down to her side.

“WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO TO MY DAUGHTER?!” the blacksmith shouts, his face boiling with red-hot anger.

He rips Clyde up into the air as easily as if he were a child, and flings him into the street before stomping over to him.

“Wait! Stop it!!” Mia yells, grabbing hold of the large man’s leg.

He towers over Clyde, yelling in his face. “ANSWER ME! What did you do?!”

Airi steps near the blacksmith, slightly coming in between him and Clyde. She bows low to him. “Please calm your anger. I assure you, he will be punished by the Lady.”

The smith clenches his fists, breathing hard through flared nostrils. He stares down at Clyde for a moment, before pointing a large finger in his face. “I swear on my life that I will bring you justice for what you did!”

Airi lets out an exasperated sigh, turning around to face Clyde. “Let us leave now, before the smith does something you will regret.” She starts back toward the estate, and Clyde stumbles back to his feet to follow.

Hayden stays behind to talk with the smith, patiently explaining what he could to the distraught father. Clyde could hear yelling and shouting, even after walking a fair distance away. Store clientele had gathered in little groups, chattering amongst themselves in gossip. Some people were looking out of windows to see what they could gather. All eyes were on Clyde as he and Airi walked back to the estate.

“Do not say a word. You’re lucky Hayden stopped me,” Airi seethes, as they reach the road to the mansion.

“But, I didn’t do anyth-”

“SHUT IT!” Airi yells.

Clyde, emotional and completely sapped of energy, shuffles behind Airi for what seems like an eternity. Upon reaching the side door, he heads straight for his room. Shutting the door behind him, he braces himself against it.

“I do something good and I'm rewarded with scorn, what the hell!” His eyes burn with fresh tears that well up in his eyes.

He stands there for a time, trying to make sense of what went wrong- why he was suddenly such a monster.

Why… WHY!!!

A soft knock sounds off from the other side of the door, startling Clyde out of his thoughts.

“Come in,” he says wearily, as he backs up to the armoire, away from the door.

The door opens, and Meri gently shuts it again as soon as she enters.

“Are you alright?” she asks, a genuine tone of concern in her voice.

Astounded, Clyde throws his hands in the air. “No- I’m not okay! My arms are burning, my knees are ripped up, my back is killing me, and for what?! I pushed myself so far to save her, only for me to be treated like I sexually assaulted her!” He digs his fingers through his hair, using his palms to wipe away his tears angrily.

Meri frowns empathetically as she sits on the bed.

“Everything will be okay,” she says softly.

“You really think that? Because I’m being treated like a rapist right now.”

Meri nods softly, and pats the bed. “Come sit down.”

Clyde drops his weight on the bed next to Meri, resting his elbows on his knees. He broods silently next to her.

“It will be okay, Clyde,” she repeats, patting his head.