storm - a sky cotl au

chapter 16 - fox

The pain.

It's like fire spreading across my skin, like daggers slashing out from all inside me. I can barely see, barely think, barely function.

I thought I had felt pain before, but it's nothing like this. It's all across me. Like a wildfire. Always spreading.

Vale lies me flat on the floor. I see the light from a lantern above me, then another figure, holding something green in their hand. "You okay if we put you to sleep?" they ask.

I try to nod. Anything to stop the pain. Vale opens my mouth as they put it in, and I swallow it immediately.

Everything starts getting blurry, before it all fades away again.

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Blink.

Where am I?

My vision comes into focus around me. White ceiling. Green plants. Hard floor. I blink again, but everything just looks a little different.

I feel a faint pain, numbed by the herbs from before. Nervously, I use my hands to slowly prop myself up into a sitting position, before surveying the room around me.

Vale and the doctor-person are nowhere to be seen, but I can see Moon beside me. Her face and hair is stained with diluted blood.

It takes my brain a moment to remember what happened.

Close your eyes. Don't think about it, I tell myself, trying to make myself believe that nothing happened, that we just came here to seek shelter from the rain. But I know that's not true.

I look at Moon's face, and I feel a wave of anger wash over me. I raise my hand...

"Fox!"

I look over to the door. The doctor-person and Vale are back. My hand quickly falls to my side, so that I don't garner any unwanted attention from them. "You're finally awake!" Vale says, relieved.

"Yeah...I just woke up a while ago," I say casually with a forced smile, pushing that anger to the back of my mind for later.

The doctor-person nods. "I'll give you some pain-numbing herbs," they tell Vale, "for the journey to the capital. You should be able to find someone who can help there."

Vale nods thoughtfully as the two of them walk to a table, and the doctor-person shows him how to grind the herbs up.

I close my eyes and sigh, and I see it all flash in front of me for a second.

The water, hurtling towards me. The blurred sights as we ran away. That unnerving smile on Moon's face as she pushed me to my almost-doom.

Vale's cries, thumping feet, a silky voice...it all replays again and again in my brain. Over and over. Continuously.

I forcefully blink, but it doesn't help. Suddenly, I feel a soft pat on my shoulder. I open my eyes to see Vale.

"Your eyes are wet," he says gently. "You okay?"

I hesitate and nod quickly, drying my eyes with my forearm. "I'm fine."

"Okay, good, because we need to go," Vale says, easily accepting my excuse. He walks over to Moon, tapping her gently on the shoulder. Her eyes flutter open, and she easily props herself up.

She suffered almost nothing from that fall.

I blink for a moment, and I feel the anger rush over like a wildfire again. How could you...?" I murmur under my breath for a second. "How could you?!"

Moon looks over at me, confused. She must've heard. "I...what..."

The anger rushes over, uncontrollable now. "You almost KILLED ME!" I scream, "YOU HIT ME, YOU KNOCKED ME OFF A CLIFF!"

"I...I did...?"

"OH, ACTING DUMB, HUH?!"

"I didn't...I didn't do anything...!"

"I HATE YOU!" I yell. "I THOUGHT YOU CARED ABOUT ME, THOUGHT YOU WERE MY FRIEND...but I guess I was wrong..."

I stumble to my feet and turn over to the door.

"Don't go, please," I hear Moon weakly mumble behind me.

"After what you did to me?"

I push the door open and run out, my tears blending with the rain outside.

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hi :)
I hope this chapter was an interesting one :D it was really fun to write, although it's probably not great.
hopefully you liked it :)
also im sorry for not updating for a while, i lost my phone and my motivation for a bit