A Star Among Planets (Star Wars Rebels Fanfiction)

Chapter 83: Painful Tests

    As soon as they arrived on the Rebel ship, Birchfoot wanted to usher him away. Halftail was reluctant, but he knew that Birchfoot just wanted to run some tests. Tests didn't bother him and neither did needles, actually. What did bother him was medication. He hated taking any form of it. It changed the way that he thought and his usually sharpened skills were dull and lifeless. It wasn't worth it to Halftail, yet Birchfoot seemed to disagree.

"Can't I wait until after I see Brook," Halftail practically begged as he romped down the hallways after Birchfoot.

Birchfoot looked over his shoulder as he hopped forward painfully. "The sooner I assess you the better," he pointed out as he looked back to where he was walking. "Besides, here we have a lot of technology that I don't have on the Ghost. It can help me, help you."

Halftail didn't think that he needed help. He was sure that he just needed sleep or something good to eat. Birchfoot seemed to have a different idea to what Halftail needed. Halftail couldn't help but disagree. "I'm sure that what happened earlier was a fluke," he pointed out.

Birchfoot stopped at a lab and he raised a paw painfully. He pushed a paw against it and the door opened. He hunkered back down and dragged himself forward. "I think it not happening all the time is a fluke. Just shut your muzzle and get in there so I can examine you!"

Halftail plastered his ears against his head as he forced himself forward with his tail tip twitching. He stalked forward and leaped onto an examination table. It was low enough for Birchfoot to reach over without struggle. Halftail wished that they could be doing this on the Ghost; it was a lot more comfortable and less like a lab. That was probably why Birchfoot liked this one better than the one on the Ghost.

Birchfoot padded over to him and smiled at Halftail. "So, how are you feeling right now?"

Halftail wasn't exactly sure that this was what Birchfoot meant, but he just decided to go with it. "I feel great," he meowed with his chest puffing out in pride.

Birchfoot twitched his tail tip as he curled his tail behind him. "Don't lie to me, Halftail. You had one of your episodes less than a few hours ago. You probably don't feel very well."

Halftail lowered his head into his shoulders and grumbled a bit. "I said that I was fine," reported Halftail as he twitched his tail tip. "But I'm here so you might as well do your whatever you want."

Birchfoot knew that was probably all that he was going to get out of Halftail. He hopped forward and raised a paw to take Halftail's pulse. It was a little quicker than he would have liked, but they had just been in a battle, so he was willing to overlook it. He checked the rest of his vitals before he decided to just talk to Halftail and see what he could find out.

"Alright, just tell me how you felt over these past few moons," meowed Birchfoot as he sat back down on his haunches and gazed expectantly up at Halftail.

Halftail licked a paw, drawing it over his ear. He had really been feeling rather awful, but he didn't want to admit it to Birchfoot. He didn't want to worry him either. "I'm fine, I promise."

Birchfoot let out another sigh as he lowered his head into his shoulders and tensed his claws. "I'm going to start pulling it out of you if you don't start talking," he threatened.

Halftail finally sighed as he raised his head to meet Birchfoot's stern gaze. "Fine, maybe I'm not as alright as I would have wanted. I just don't know what's wrong with me, Birchfoot. It's just a lot different than it used to be."

Birchfoot certainly agreed with that. "I'd like to take some blood samples and maybe a CT scan. I think that we should also do-"

Halftail zoned out after a while. He knew that Birchfoot only wanted to help him, but it was just a little taxing to keep hearing him talking about medical terms that he didn't understand. He sighed heavily as he looked to Birchfoot. "That just sounds like a bunch of poking and prodding."