Status: Critique is always helpful

Whimper

Go

The boy runs. He snatches up the satchel and runs. Tears streaming down his face, he runs through ferns and undergrowth and startles birds from trees. His breath is ragged. He does not pay attention to the scratches he receives. "Pasefoni!" he shrieks. "Pasefoni-san!"

There isn't an answer. He runs onward. He trips at times and slams into the dirt. Branches snap and break under him. But he scrambles to his feet and keeps on sprinting.

The brief trail of blood he's following dwindles. The boy stumbles to a stop. "Pasefoni!" His chest heaves and his body trembles. He snaps his head around. ""Doko ni ikimashitaka!? Pasefoni-san!" Then he searches desperately through the foliage. His breath is heavy with sobs and hiccups. He snags a leaf stained with blood and rips it off of the plant. He squeezes it into his palm. "Pasefoni," he gasps. He runs onward.

The satchel bounces wildly against his leg. There is a hum in the distance and the boy's head whips around. His breath hitches and he tears through the forest now. The hum grows louder and he dives behind a tree and covers his head. The wind screams. Two silver craft roar past and snap limbs off of trees. They crash down around the boy. He lunges to his feet and sprints. The white bag swings at his side.

"Pasefoni!" he shouts. "Pasefoni-san!"

The two flying craft rip through the canopy of the trees. The boy keeps running. That is when he bursts out of the woods. Harsh sunlight hits his face and he stops and squints. The blue sky glares. The fields thrash in the wind. A plain that stretches to the horizon is in front of him. There is no one there.

The hum is gone and the two craft can be seen as silver dots in the sky. The boy lets out a scream. It's wild and throaty and there are no words to it. He plunges back into the forest and flings foliage aside. He tears branches off of bushes. He ducks around trees and looks around the sides. "Pasefoni! Pasefoni!" he screams. "Doko ni ikimashitaka!?"

He searches for a long time. Sweat stains his clothes and his breath rasps in his throat. His bandages have torn away and his hands bleed. The trail of blood is only a smudge now. The boy shouts wordlessly and slams his hands against trees. Eventually he stops. He sinks to his knees, tears at his hair, and screams.

"Pasefoni," he gasps. "Pasefoni-san... Pasefoni..."

But there is no one in the forest but him.

---

After a while of lying in the dirt, the boy rolls to his hands and knees and sits up. He wipes his nose with the back of his hand and scrubs his tears away. Dried blood and dirt are smeared on his cheeks. His eyes are red-rimmed and puffy.

He takes the satchel, places it in front of him, and opens it. He dumps the contents out. Empty plastic bags and half a sandwich fall out along with many other things. A flashlight and a box that is labelled "ammunition" drop. Keys and water. A metallic disc. Wire. A knife. Then he searches the inner pockets. A red, translucent, circular object the size of a button. A flare. Bandages. That is it.

The boy stares at all the items. After a few seconds, he takes the disc in his hands and looks it over. One side is round while the other is completely flat. The round side is smooth, and the flat part has a switch on it and a compartment that the boy opens to reveal black batteries. He clicks the door shut and looks at the switch. "Kore ga nan da?" he murmurs.

The switch has small letters above it. It reads, "Emergency Help Transmission."

"Muyou," he mutters, and he tosses it aside. The disc bounces away, but it beeps.

The boy doesn't appear to hear it. He picks up the red, slim circle and examines it. It is similar to a cough drop. He pinches it between his fingers, but it does not break. He holds it up to eye level. Against the light, a black, murky object is visible within it. "Dokubutsu?" he asks to himself. He attempts to pry it apart, but it does not break. The outside is hard and does not leave indentations with his fingernails. Finally, he puts it back into the bag. He gathers the rest of the items and returns them to their places.

He leaves the silver disc lying there.

"Boku ga, doko ni ikemasuka?" he whispers. He gazes around the forest. "Tabemono to mizu ga nai."

He lets out a deep sigh and starts onward. His hands tremble slightly.

But he slings the bag over his shoulder, and starts onward without looking back.
♠ ♠ ♠
I'll translate this. I figured I should give you a break since this is entirely in the foreign language. It will be identified later on, unless you know what that racial slur was in the last chapter.

"Pasefoni!" he shouts. "Pasefoni-san!"
"Persephone! Miss Persephone!"

"Doko ni ikimashitaka!?"
"Where did you go!?"

-Looking at the metallic disc-
"Kore ga nan da?"
"What is this? (Casual speech. Haruto doesn't use this around Persephone.)

"Muyou."
"Useless."

-Looking at red object-
"Dokubutsu?"
"Poison?"

"Boku ga, doko ni ikemasuka?" he whispers. He gazes around the forest. "Tabemono to mizu ga nai."
"Where can I go? I don't have food or water." (Again, casual male speech.)

Yup. That's it.