[ AW ] Deliverance?

They seemed to be out of the woods now, so to speak. He was not sure how long they had walked or how far they had traveled, as it had all started to blur into one mess of landscape.
He prided himself on his fitness--and he was fit, when he had gone into the dungeons. He was still quite fit no, though exhaustion had clearly begun to take it's toll. Finally, as they crested a small hill across the rocky land, he felt his legs buckle beneath him. He tried to catch himself but collapsed face-first before he could lock his joints into place, and instead ended up a face-down heap of grey and silver amidst the spring thaw.

He didn't have the energy to chastise himself for it--only forced himself back to his feet, picked himself up despite the blood on his lip, and trudged onward. Not quite a talker today, it seemed--though in his younger days, he had prattled endlessly about all sorts of things. He had a starry-eyed wonder, a sort of naivete that followed him into adulthood for a while.
...But that seemed gone now, the flames of his passions having long since been snuffed out, leaving not even embers behind to rekindle.
"...Sorry. Guess I'm tired."

@Eitan

It had taken everything Eitan possessed not to lunge to catch Ardis when he stumbled. As much as he tried to make himself out to be a tough guy, his heart ached for the heart throb that continued to push him away at every turn. Keen blue eyes watched as his friend regained his footing only to continue trudging on like the good little soldier he'd been trained to be. They were both trained soldiers; trained to march until their paws bled, until their joints cracked with each aching step they took and that was exactly what Ardis was doing now.

He wished he'd stop.

"'Course you are. You need energy. Fuel keeps a body moving and neither one of us have had anything to eat. We should stop for food," he said, his tone offering no room for argument. "It doesn't have to be long. We can see what we can find near a water supply. Should be able to scourge something up." Even if it was a small animal, at this point anything was better than nothing.