Gifted: A Hermitcraft AU [ON HIATUS]

8: It had to be a bird

Saying that Impulse was worried was an understatement. A huge one.

Sure, Tango was one of the biggest derps of the server, constantly getting himself hurt or in trouble, but Impulse wasn't sure what to think considering how Stress had called him. It was easy to tell when Stress was panicked, she just sounded different.

Her voice would waver and tremble, and was a significantly higher pitch. But she was a worrier too, like himself, so maybe whatever had happened wasn't as bad as it had sounded. That's what Impulse hoped at least.

That's what he hoped as he whizzed over jungle trees on elytra. It wasn't long before he spotted the lake and winding river to the side of Stress' base.

Impulse pulled at a strap on his elytra, flaring the wings out and descending in a spiral. He landed with a small thunk right at Stress' door which was... open.

His heart nearly stopped in his chest as he saw a small, hand shaped smear of blood on the doorframe. And his heart definitely skipped a beat as he took in the scene occurring inside.

Something had happened between when Stress called him and now.

Grian, unmentioned in the call, was spread out on Stress' pink couch, his blood turning it a deeper shade. His gaze was distant and hazy, and his feathers were ruffled and bent.

Stress stood before him, eyes wide and panicked, and repeating a small, breathy 'no no no' over and over.

Behind her, Tango was struggling to pull himself out of a blanket mess to help. He was shivering violently.

Impulse was by Stress in mere seconds, placing one hand on her shoulder, the other snapping to gain her attention. Stress flicked her head towards him, a sheen of panic covering her whole face.

"You have to heal him Stress!"

Her expression morphed into a grimace as she struggled in breaths.

"Breathe, just breath alright?" Impulse said gently, trying to ease her panic. If Stress noticed his eyes briefly shift gold, a sign of him using his powers, she said nothing. He passed on some confidence to her, and led her to Grian's prone form.

The one wing he had outstretched was clearly broken, yet it didn't seem to be the source of the blood. Rather, it originated from somewhere underneath Grian's other wing, which he had wrapped around his torso like a blanket.

"Gri, you've gotta move your wing out of the way," Impulse said softly as he leaned down towards him, shifting his stance to have a knee up on the couch. Grian turned his head, but his eyes didn't settle on Impulse normally.

"Huh? Oh.. Joe?" The small hermit mumbled, confused.

"It's Impulse, bud. Now you gotta move your wing so Stress can heal you." Impulse placed a hand in his feathers, guiding the limb.

Grian obliged, shifting his wing with a low, "ok Joe." A short but deep wound decorated his side, and if Impulse was to assume, it looked a lot like a sword wound.

There was too much urgency in the situation to be worried about that now, but it was still frightening.

Grian clutched at the gash with a bloodied hand, and through his fingers, Impulse could tell it was still bleeding heavily. He placed a hand on Stress' back, guiding her to heal him. It took but a glance for him to tell that his magic had already faded, and she was panicking again.

"Okay Stress, deep breaths, close your eyes. It's only a cut okay?" Impulse comforted. Stress reached a hand to Grian's side before blinking her eyes closed. Impulse was instantly relieved, though he still activated his magic again, passing through that extra bit of positivity that his words couldn't give. She needed it.