Awakened

An Answer

Blue wasn't sure how to react when he returned. On one hand, he was excited to learn that not only had the dragon visited them again, not to mention the new friend, a blaze was with them now.. but the others were freaking out because Horror was.. just unconscious. They had no idea why. The slime beneath his skin was pulsing with an admittedly ominous red light, and Blue genuinely didn't know what to do about that.

So he wove between the freaked out pair of withers, creeper and enderman, just to stare for an uncomfortably long time.
The zombie was unusually full of energy. It was pulsing in time with the red glow of the slime. Blue had no idea what that meant, yet he was deeply concerned. He understood Dust's panic a little more now. The enderman was terrified that it was his fault because the slime was again, weird.
At this point it was on Horror now. Dust hadn't insisted it stay. Though.. was there even a way to remove it?

Instead of fretting about things he couldn't be sure were actively causing problems, Blue simply bent down and scooped up the zombie. He actually paused when he stood, well aware of how easy that was despite the other being his height and at least three times as heavy. Even Killer was staring in surprise, though Dust didn't seem to register the strangeness.

The still unnamed blaze was floating off to the side, looking caught between concern and awkwardness.
“I'm going to take him back to rest in a proper bed.” Blue announced.
“Are you sure?” Geno asked, wringing his hands anxiously. “I can fly him over.”

Blue hesitated, noticing how the other was keeping close to the uncharacteristically sullen Error, who wouldn't meet anyone's eyes or sockets. He sighed, offering Horror's limp form- something about him being unconscious elicited a deep sense of dismay and fear in him, so secretly Blue was glad he offered. Even though Horror still breathed.. he was still a corpse.

Geno seemed grateful to take Horror from him, though his sockets briefly narrowed and he nodded discreetly back at Error. It took Blue a moment before he understood. He was asking for help about the other. As Geno took off, Fresh awkwardly following- he still struggled with that flight, even now- Blue studied Error. The wither wasn't even hovering in place anymore. He was solidly on the ground, skeletal tail curling around, the curve of the blade pointing skyward as his hands found the pockets in the shoddy cloak.

All Blue knew was that Error had inadvertently chased off the dragon trying to greet it.
He wasn't sure how badly that would affect the wither, but given what he had learned about that terrible war.. Blue could guess a few things.
Instead of bringing any of that up, he asked.
“Are you alright, Error?”

“I'm fine.” The other outright hissed at him, backing up. Blue was momentarily surprised the other could move without flying before stepping back himself, giving him distance.
“You're sure?” He asked, already knowing what to expect.

“You can fuck off now. Go make friends with the blaze or whatever.” In his peripheral, he noticed said lurker sinking closer to the ground- though instead of the expected wounded expression, the blaze seemed to be frowning in disappointment.

“That was rude.” Blue began. “And I would be a terrible friend if I didn't make sure you were alright. I know dragons are important to you.” He fell silent as Error shuddered, scowling deeper and sort of.. slithering away.

“And I have every reason to be concerned when I see you not even flying.” Blue added, speedwalking closer. Error recoiled from him, black particles buzzing around as he hissed again under his breath. Blue ignored how the ebony blade was aimed to decapitate him, simply giving the wither a look.
“You wouldn't do that.”

Error's face distorted into a snarl, though the curved blade twitched away. “Fuck off.”
“You're not an evil person, Error.”
“I can kill you right fucking now.”
“But why would you?” Blue pointed out, gently pushing it out of the way without breaking Error's gaze. “You know you're not just a weapon. I didn't build you a body with the idea that you would go about killing willy nilly. And just because a dragon was scared of you doesn't mean you should start doing that now. A stranger's thoughts on you shouldn't affect you so much. Why would you expect a dragon to know you, anyway?”