Night Fury's Wrath

Chapter 98: Fear [Part 1]

Nibbler stared at me with that look again. It almost made me wish I hadn't gotten so good at deciphering her body language. Maybe then I wouldn't be a nervous wreck who couldn't sit still. Then again, it probably wouldn't be a good thing, since I never would've made it this far with her otherwise.

Plus, facing Nibbler's anger while my guard was down wouldn't end well.

She knew. She knew. Those two words echoed throughout my being, whispering of my impending doom. There wasn't any proof, but Nibbler was very smart, so even if she only heard a snippet of what I'd said, all it took was the wrong words for her to piece together the truth.

"Vaskr!"

I jumped, snapping my attention back to the floating speck of white light. "I was listening!" I blurted automatically.

"No, you weren't," Star muttered, irritated, before darting into Nibbler's face. "For everyone's sake, control yourself! If you think you're angry now, just think about how angry you'll be at yourself when it's too late to save you! Your anger is distracting everyone!"

Nibbler batted the light away with a forepaw a bit harder than necessary, making it spiral through the air before plopping to the ground—I could only imagine what that was like for Star. She then returned her glare to me, making me flinch. ~Why no tell?!~

I swallowed nervously. It seemed the time to face her wrath was now. "There's nothing to tell."

"'Still smell her blood?'" Nibbler repeated slowly, dangerously. "That nothing?"

Uh, oh. "Th-That wasn't about you—"

"'Nibbler too brave sometimes?'"

I froze solid. All of it. Nibbler heard all of it. She really knew what I had done. But Star said Nibbler couldn't hear me! How did...?

My eyes narrowed when it finally clicked. "How long have you been snooping through the bond?"

Nibbler didn't falter. ~Since I found out you did the same thing and dug into my personal stuff!~

Apparently, I wasn't as sneaky as I thought I was. "I was worried, okay?! I'm sorry I went where I wasn't allowed to go, but I won't risk losing you again!"

She snapped her teeth at me. "When I say no allowed?!"

The switching back and forth between verbal and mental communication alone was disorienting, but what she said really caught me off guard. "Then... why are you mad?" I asked, too puzzled to snap back at her this time. Was I allowed to do that all along? Then what was the problem?

~Because you didn't tell me! You didn't explain yourself! You kept it a secret from me, like it was your right to do whatever you wanted inside me! That was my feelings, my core... That thing you sneaked into and turned inside out was me! Did you think I wouldn't notice you digging around the deepest parts of me?!~

Now that I was faced with her wrath, Nibbler sounded more hurt than angry. "I-I was only trying to protect you. I didn't mean to—"

Nibbler rolled her eyes and looked away with a low growl. "I know. You always protect, even when not want to. I mad cuz you lie. You no ask or tell."

"You would've been mad anyway!" I exclaimed, exasperated. "I lose no matter what!"

"Yes, but I would understood," she retorted. "I would let do cuz I trust you. Cuz used to talk to me. Partners trust each ofer—not lie, not hide stuff."

I wilted a little. "Nibbler, I—"

"Ohhh, if I had a stomach, I'd be hurling everything but my memories," Star moaned woozily. "Never do that again... Somehow, I can still dry heave, and that's worse without something to puke."