If Only, If Only - Unicorn Wars Fanfiction

Chapter Thirteen: A Lingering Pain

((B O M B A S T I C S I D E - E Y E))

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A couple hours passed after that point. Azulin had passed out- but eventually- he was bandaged up, and any major bleeding was stopped. As far as they all could tell, he had no critical internal damage from being stabbed where he was- otherwise he would have died already.

The troupe of bears spent most of their time in silence. Taking in the darkness of the late night-time hours.

Every single time Sargento saw one of those colored slugs, he grabbed it and violently threw it somewhere off into the forest.

Gordi had been in a constant state of fretting over his sibling every time it looked like something else was going awry. Such as the one or two times that the blue brother started to seem to display breathing problems during patching him up- or the sudden jolted movements he made when he was moved a certain way.

The rest of the bears were all in a group, talking with each other or confiding in silence in their shared tent. All of them were shaken up, trying to finish processing what happened. This same mix of actions was something they would choose to have endured for the rest of the night.

"If we would have eaten those things, we would have been in the same boat Azulin is in right now..." Coco breathed out, before re-tying one of the shoelaces attached to his boot. "That or worse... but now we are stuck with another dilemma..." Coco sighed, looking to the bears around himself.

Achuchones had been suspiciously quiet. He kept his face concentrated on his lap as he tried to finish calming down from the nights events of chaos. His words did not ring true about Azulin at all... now he was stuck contemplating just what he was going to say once the other was awake again.

He found it hard to swallow his pride- even when he could admit that he was wrong. Though in this case, he had outright patronized someone and added fuel to a fire that ultimately burnt out to such a degree that it was likely to still be smoldering even after he woke back up.

There was nothing but growing tension among the fellow bears though. The twin polars were right next to each other, hugging the entire time as they couldn't help but imagine one hurting himself or the other. Coco was contemplating the conversation he had with Azulin earlier and thinking about the smaller things that the other had mentioned. For the life of him, he couldn't remember all of it- but one thing did frighten him.

He had talked to Azulin about regret. Azulin had been the one to bring up regret in the first place. That would easily imply that whatever this mess turned into could have been because of the same intense emotions of regret that he barely touched in upon in that small conversation, right?

If so... Coco fretted over it. Despite regret being an emotion that helps to shape and guide you- regret is one of the most deep-rooted emotions to ever collide with someone. Such intense feelings were confusing and the first thing regret did- was hurt.

Having so much regret that you are at least sub-consciously willing to stab yourself to death and call yourself the scum of the Earth nearly felt like a different story.

The mind was something that he could never claim to completely understand- but what he did know was that drugs, alcohol, and other substances tended to bring out the worst in people. He, himself had been tempted by them many times. They resulted in him getting violent and angry quite a bit. However- with continued usage- he trained himself to just lie there until the effects were over.

The meeting between the two for this conference about regret was something random and unplanned.

However, now that this happened... he just wished he would have asked more to get to understand. He couldn't understand if he comforted the other wrong, or just didn't comfort him at all.

He didn't want to accept the fact that he had to come to terms with the knowledge that talking to someone about what is bothering them is not always going to help them out the first or second time. Hell, it might not help them out at all. Second being paying more attention to words and reactions. Maybe there was something he missed in his interactions with Azulin that day....

He just hoped and prayed that when his child was born- he didn't have to have such conversations until that child was older and they both were wiser.

About 6 more hours of rest time passed and all of the soldiers had regrouped and were travelling again.

Azulin was being carried by Coco- though Gordi and he were taking turns. Gordi had let Coco take his brother so he could rest- though he wouldn't let the blonde bear have him for too long.

It was a sunnier day, and their hike was not blessed or bathed in any shade. A lot of their trek was long, and hot. Too warm for most of them to not be panting- anxious for their next water break. Many of them had even taken their jackets off- travelling rather in a tank-top over their uniform pants and boots.

The walk had taken forever- though- by the end of the day- the blue brother was stirring to the sound of dry grass and gravel crunching under the boots of his brother and Coco. His eyes fluttered open, and he looked around in confusion- before attempting to move his arm to the right spot.

"...,hh. Go-rdi...?" His voice was dry and hoarse. Crackling from his dry throat and spinning vision. "Gordi...." He tiredly moved his head forward and let it rest. His head was pounding and he couldn't see straight. One wrong movement from him, and he found himself lurching forward in pain from a feeling in the side of his abdomen."Ghhak.... what- even..?"

"Sargento-! He's awake-" Gordi partially exclaimed. All of the troupe stopped, stepping off to the side on the trail to take a break.

Azulin looked hazy, and confused- his dark eyes yet to fully open or concentrate on their surroundings. His heart started to beat faster for some reason, his nerves trying to spike out of the blue for some reason.

"I... What happened...? Why does ... my stomach hurt...?"

((To Be Continued))