Night Fury's Wrath

Chapter 53: Tentative

Something felt wrong. I woke up like normal, feeling Nibbler's smooth and oddly cool scales pushing against my back, but everything else felt wrong. 

I opened my eyes and groaned, then coughed, forcing a faint cloud of dust particles out of my throat. What the...? How did that happen?

Star laid in the dead grass before us, watching us lazily. The surrounding flora, disturbing as always, seemed to glow from within, albeit not with any natural colors. The glow was dark, wavering, and moved unlike anything I'd seen before.

"Welcome back," Star greeted, idly getting to her paws and stretching. "That took longer than expected, but you made it."

"Made it?" I echoed blearily. Nibbler moaned beside me, voicing her discontent, and coughed as I did.

"That weakness you feel, the odd glow in everything around you, the chill of your bodies, the sense that everything feels off," she listed knowingly. "Yes, you have made it."

A spark of annoyance made me frown. "Stop being cryptic and tell us your point," I growled, which made me cough up a little more debris. "A-And why am I hacking up stuff?"

Star rolled her eyes. "I'm 'being cryptic' to lay it on you gently, but if you want it straight, then so be it," she huffed snarkily. "You're coughing up crap because you've been dead for a few days now—" I stiffened and whined softly at that "—and your bodies were laying here the entire time, so they collected some dust as all unmoving things do. The final step failed without the final piece, so you died, but it still helped, so—"

"W-Wait! We were dead?" I whimpered. "You let us die?!"

She sat down with a derisive snort. "Oh, so now you want to ask questions? Now you want me to explain things to you? I thought you preferred me 'getting to the point' instead of 'being cryptic?'"

"I... didn't mean it like that," I mumbled quietly.

Star's irritated stare didn't let up. "I think you did mean it like that," she retorted. "I think you wanted to tell me what to do until I helped you the way you wanted. Well, guess what, Vaskr? I'm tired of your demands, doubt, and impatience. You're not a rotting corpse right now because of the power that I gave you. You have a shot at disrupting the Scoots' assaults because of me. I think I deserve some damn respect!"

I knew she was right, but something in me still held onto defiance. That sensation didn't feel right, though, which was concerning. I quickly learned the reason for that when Nibbler got to her unsteady paws and glowered at Star, making the feeling swell. That emotion was abnormal because it didn't come from me, it came from Nibbler. Were we somehow connected more than the basic link we had created?

"No," Nibbler said firmly, her voice somewhat scratchy. "You need us. We no help if no... lissen. We do work. What you do?"

Star narrowed her eyes. "I gave you the power to take down the Scoots. I gave you another chance at life."

"So?" Nibbler huffed, taking a shaky, challenging step toward Star. "What more? You say do stuff, we do, but you do no more." I stared numbly at Nibbler, struggling to comprehend the faint emotions I felt coming from her as well as what she argued about.

"What more do you want me to do?" Star snapped. "I've given you most of what you need to live and take down the Scoots, but I haven't found the last piece, and that's not my fault! I'm working as hard as I can!"

"But you make us die!" Nibbler countered sharply. "You no ask! You jus... do! You say we be otay, but we was not! You not help!"

"I am helping!" She insisted. "But I can't help too much or I risk the enemy detecting my influence! I have to be subtle with my power, just like how I'm helping you right now by sharing your emotions with Vaskr!"