Darkness gave way to blurry light as John's eyes slowly opened. A wet sensation assaulted his cheek, waking him from his long slumber. A groggy groan escaped his lips as he slowly came to his senses, and looked over towards the source of the wetness.
A large tongue licked out in quick succession, as the face of a creature was right up in his face. John's eyes, initially hazy with confusion, opened wide as he saw the creature before him.
"Kirii!" John exclaimed in elated excitement as he quickly moved to sit up and hug his beast companion. Kirii had been on the precipice of life and death for a long time, and John had been worried about him the entire time. However, there was nothing he could do but wait and hope Kirii made it through his ordeal.
"Ahhh"
While trying to sit up, John winced as he felt a wave of pain course through his entire body. He quickly laid back down to reduce the pain, while a sound to his right caught his attention.
