Another Way

Chapter 18: Silence

Thankfully for Sue's strained... everything, Daystar wouldn't end up stringing her along for very long.

She might have known all of nothing about agriculture, but liked to think she had a relatively decent visual memory. Enough so to remember the unusually colored bark of a couple of fruit trees back at Moonview's farm, and realize that it was a match for the small grove they had just walked into.

Her stomach would definitely not say no to some lunch later on.

Or now.

The problem of sitting down with a crutch was one Sue was acutely familiar with. And one that, despite all her struggling, she hadn't found a better answer for than having someone else lift her whole body, be it with their arms or mind. Daystar's solution to that conundrum wasn't groundbreaking by any stretch of the imagination, but it got the job done all the same.

She squatted to grab the lower part of the mobility tool with her clawed hand, lifted it up from the ground, and began to rotate it slowly in her unwavering grasp; steadily lowering the point the once-human was supporting herself on until all it took to sit down was just letting her butt fall down a couple of inches.

With how lanky Daystar's build was, Sue didn't expect her to be on the "could probably snap her like a twig" level of physical strength. Certainly not with other extraordinarily strong creatures she'd seen so far at least looking ripped. But no, don't even need that in here, apparently.

Muscles are just for decoration. Who could've known.

"Thank you."

Despite her grateful tone being successfully conveyed, the gray creature wasn't particularly focused on that; their sharp claws rhythmically tapping each other as they thought something through. Uncertain, determined, puzzled. Whatever it was, it couldn't have been too bad; the realization combined with the two night kin kiddos having sat down beside her helping tremendously in calming Sue back down following the tense exchange at the clearing.

Now just to link up with Daystar and let's see what she'd been wracking her brains about. Close eyes, suppress emotions, reach-

"KYAH!"

A harsh snarl cut Sue off before she could get started; her whole body freezing as she opened her eyes to find the three dagger-like claws inches in front of her. The attached face and mind were much closer to slight irritation than a kind of fury a threatening gesture ought to have implied, however.

No telepathy then, alright...

Even if her host's mental state never went beyond annoyance and quickly receded from even that, the motion of their claws left Sue shaken, not daring to even twitch as she sat in place. Her heart hammered in her ears as her eyes drilled a hole in the forest floor; what felt like a near death experience dulling out any external stimuli. It took a while for her mind to start unwinding from that sight. It might not have been a threat, but, Duckdamn, it was hard to think rationally with something sharp enough to slice clean through any of the surrounding trees being so nonchalantly pointed at her.

*tap-tap*

The couple of pinging sounds as Daystar tapped her claws on the metal hook of her prosthesis snapped Sue back to reality; gaze jumping upwards only to near instantly lock with Daystar's expression of... concern. Reassuring if nothing else, at least, and also letting Sue spot the rather uneven edge of the large... feather that sprouted from where her left ear ought to have been, as if it'd been crudely cut off at around eye height.

"I-I'm okay, I think."

With the Forest Guardian's focus secured, her host nodded, took a deep breath, looked straight at her... and pointed her clawed arm at herself, before speaking slower than Sue had seen anyone do before.